A love forgotten
by Tabbytha
Summary: Haku has been left alone and is feeling the pain. But will Chihiro remember her adventure in the spirit world or even Haku? Can Haku's heart be any more broken? Decided to pick up from where I left it all those years ago so please R&R!
1. Haku, alone

It was growing dark once again around the bathhouse and one by one the lanterns were beginning to light. Gradually the workers stirred from their sleep and stretched their rested arms and legs while grumbling about the work ahead of them. Lights were lit, buckets were filled with hot soapy water and the stoves were lit.

It was a night like any other, spirits turning up to be washed clean and to eat their fill at the luxurious bathhouse. In the distance a dragon, white as the moon and soft as the night, could be seen returning from the mission Yubaba had sent him on. Haku landed on the grand bridge changing back into the shape of the nineteen year old boy.

"Master Haku! Yubaba wants to speak to you!" squeaked a small frog in front of him.

Haku walked past with glazed over eyes ignoring the creature which was once his friend. The frog sighed and shook his head.

"He's been that way for seven years now, used to be a good enough lad," he explained to a near by spirit who had no interest whatsoever in the tale.

Haku proceeded through the bathhouse with a set in frown on his face and ignoring anyone who spoke to him. It was as though he did not think them there. Lin frowned at him as he passed and stepped out of his way. People had learnt to keep out of his way, he had a fiery mood when he turned angry and could have a spiteful tongue when he wished.

Whispers followed him all the way up to the top floor. Mutters of disappointment, murmurs of fear and mumbles of warning. He took no notice of the comments which followed him but continued on the same route he took every day with a stony face.

He reached the large doors which led to Yubaba's office. They looked the same as they ever did, no paint had chipped and no scratch was made. Haku pushed them open with ease and entered her layer. She sat behind a desk piled high with riches, her chiselled nose stuck out in front of her face a ridiculously long way and the monocle in her eye showed her inspecting a rather large and particularly shiny ruby which she grasped in her greedy fingers.

She looked up and sneered at the young man in front of her, carefully laying the ruby back in a velvet case.

"Haku," she said standing up walking over to him at a surprising rate.

Although she once stood tall above the boy he had now overtaken her in his age and stood two heads above the short lady. However she seemed not to notice and still seemed to tower above him with her power.

"Yes?" he said slowly with no expression in his face.

She took a long look at him. He had certainly changed from the twelve year old boy he once was. His face had grown more handsome and his hair had become slightly wispy where he had failed to brush it properly.

"I've had more complaints," she eyeballed him with those huge eyes of hers. Haku remained unfazed.

After a few moments Yubaba continued, unhappy with the lack of response. "A fight? Another fight?" she asked rhetorically. She moved back to her desk where she picked up a sheet of paper and read from it,

"He came at me with that look in his eyes and hit me squarely in the face, I had done nothing wrong. For spirit's sake Yubaba sack him,"

She let the message sink into Haku before continuing.

"So I am left with the same situation I am put in each week. You hit him?"

Haku blinked and slowly nodded.

Yubaba sighed, "If you don't loose this mood your in then you will find yourself without a job. I know a lot of dragon hunters who are desperate to get their hands on you and if you are no longer my employee then I shall have no regrets in telling them."

Still Haku remained unfazed and silent.

"Get out of here before I do something I regret," she spat and turned her back on him.

Haku turned to disappear out of the door.

It was like this every week like clockwork. He would be summoned to her office and warned and then dismissed. Only the warnings were empty, the truth was Yubaba could not afford not to have him around.

As he left he took a small object out of his pocket and left it on the table. Mission complete.

The bathhouse followed him with the whispers and mutters once again as he left. But he did not care. He cared for nothing any more….except for…

The fields of grass stretched out ahead of him, they moved and glistened in the wind as though they had come to life. The night had passed slowly as always and the spirit world was asleep again, except for Haku.

He found his legs and ran across the fields which were all water during the night. And then he stopped, the same place he came to every day. The door to the human world. It looked like an old fairground hut but peeled and chipped with hardly any colour left on the walls. He ran his hands over the calloused wood and breathed in the scent trying to get the faintest smell of what he longed for.

He had given up once she had left. He thought he'd be able to leave Yubaba and the bathhouse and follow her back into the human world but once he realised that the door could not be opened by a spirit he lost all hope of ever seeing her again. He had waited by the door for days, weeks, months after she had left, waiting for her to return but she had not.

He gave up and returned to the bathhouse, knowing no where else to turn to. But it was impossible for him to go back to normal life, not knowing what he could have had. Some days he had been filled with anger at her for not coming back to him, other days he had wept for her loss and some days he would just sit in his room not knowing what else to do. For once you have been brushed with true love you can never find a way back.

As the years went on the anger ebbed away and the weeping ceased, they would only visit him again every once in a while. He was just left as a cold, hard shell with no feelings but those which he kept for her. A broken heart which could never be fixed. A spirit could never die, he would have to live eternity feeling this way.

Gently he touched the door which led to the human world and wished beyond hope that she would return to him. But it was useless. The door vibrated slowly showing the power that kept Haku there in the spirit world and he sighed. He couldn't kid himself anymore. She wasn't coming back.

He collapsed on the long grass and gazed up at the door. The guy he hit earlier deserved it and he wasn't the least bit sorry. He had made a snide comment about Chihiro and Haku just lost control and smacked him one. The workers all knew why Haku was moody all the time and they tried to keep out of his way encase he would get angry with them. He really had been left alone. With no friends, and no Chihiro.

The wind swept past him ruffling his hair. Sometimes he would bash against the door trying to force it open, sometimes he sat and cried in front of it but now he just sat there wishing beyond hope that it would open.

Why did he have to let her go? He could have easily stopped her from leaving him. But his biggest regret was not giving her a goodbye hug.

Just to feel her soft skin again or to stroke her silky hair. But she was gone.

And he was alone.

* * *

A/N: Well this is my first "Spirited Away" fanfic! Please read and review and tell me if it is complete rubbish. I'm not sure whether I should write any more or just leave it like this. But I do have an idea about what could happen if it continues.

Please tell me what you think!


	2. Never forget the one you love

**Chapter two: Never forget the one you love**

Tossing and turning in her sleep Chihiro was watched by two of her friends. Her brown hair flicked from side to side and a frown was planted firmly on her face.

"Do you think we should wake her?" whispered one of the friends who crouched by her sleeping friend.

"How should I know? Mum always told me never to wake someone who was having a nightmare." Said the other joining her on the floor and tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Well we can't just leave her…oh no she looks like she's going to cry," and sure enough Chihiro's cheeks had raised and her brow had creased. Her friends sat helpless by her side.

"I'm going to wake her, I can't watch her crying in her sleep again," said the first friend and, ignoring the objections of her mate, she gently rested a hand on Chihiro's shoulder and shook her delicately, "Chi? Come on Chi wake up…it's just a dream."

After a pause Chihiro shot up in bed and grabbed her friends hand severely, twisting it back, "Where is he!" she yelled.

There was a moment's silence where no body spoke. Slowly Chihiro let go of her friend's wrist, letting it fall suddenly to the floor, and gazed at her surroundings. Sharp and powerful pink filled her vision accompanied by a four poster bed filled with fluffy toys and her own battered, and slightly faded, green sleeping bag.

"Oh…" she whispered embarrassed, "I'm so sorry Mia," a look of terror filled her eyes as she turned to the friend she had grabbed.

"That's ok Chi, it doesn't hurt at all," she said kindly giving her other friend a weary glance, "was it…that boy again?"

Chihiro fell silent and looked to the ground where the fluffy pink carpet flooded her vision. For the past seven years she had had the same dream containing the same boy. She would walk through a deserted fun faire and there he would be, smiling at her. Always the same smile, so friendly…so warm. In the dream she knew him and would call out his name but the moment her foot touched the bridge which separated them his smile would fade and these…monsters….they would take him away.

She tried so hard to think who this boy was but every time she opened her eyes his name would disappear and he became a stranger who haunted her dreams.

She rubbed her head with sweaty fingers and sighed loudly trying desperately to remember his name. Her friends sat quietly and watched, every time they had a sleepover she would be the same. Especially recently, when she was younger it would only be once a month or so but now it seemed to be every time.

"It's nothing, honestly!" Chihiro said impatiently once she realised her friends were staring at her. She picked up a plump pink pillow beside her and threw it at Ju, her other friend. Quickly she picked herself up, before a fully fledged pillow fight erupted, and ran to the bathroom leaving the other girls bewildered.

The lock slid into place and she turned to the large and sparkling bathroom before her. Ju's parents were extremely rich and they never rejected an opportunity to lavish gifts upon their daughter and her friends.

Chihiro stood in front of the mirror and took a long look at herself. Her hair was messed up, her face flushed with colour and her eyes…they showed the remains of tears. Why was this boy haunting her dreams? Who was he? The same questions she asked herself every day and no matter how hard she thought she could never find an answer.

Slowly she filled the sink with water and dipped her hands into it, cupping the water in her hands.

"Whoever he is he better leave me alone soon," she whispered to herself throwing the cool water over her face.

Something flickered out of the corner of her eye and she snapped her head upwards and stared into the room. Nothing moved, she was going mad. Again she flicked the water into her face and rubbed her eyes hard willing the madness to go away. She was Chihiro, just Chihiro…

She looked at herself in the mirror again, her face was dripping and the ends of her hair were wet and then…

The image of a twelve year old boy…standing behind her…

She snapped round, her eyes wide with fright…there was no one there.

Gazing back at the mirror she saw him again, standing there…smiling. The same boy from her dream.

"What's going on!" she pleaded with herself hoping she was still asleep. Yet the boy just stood their smiling at her.

Her breathing quickened and tears filled her eyes. Why her? Why did he have to haunt her?

"I DON'T KNOW YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled spinning around again to empty air. Tears spilled from her eyes and splashed down her face leaving ugly stains. Frantically her hands covered her head and she crouched next to the floor willing it away.

There was a soft knock at the door followed by, "Chi?"

Chihiro opened her eyes and took a fleeting look at the door. There was no boy in the room, there never was, it's all in your imagination, she told herself over and over again. Slowly she stood up, her back to the mirror.

"What is it?" she called out weakly.

"Are you ok Chi? We heard…noises," came the frightened voice of Mia from outside the bathroom door.

"No, look I'm fine ok? I'll meet you both in the breakfast room in five minutes," Chihiro put on a confident voice, even though she was shaking inside.

She waited until she heard the soft patter of feet going down the stairs before she moved again. Whatever was happening to her she didn't like it. Whether she was imagining things or whether…she was being haunted. The mirror still sat behind her, waiting.

"Its ok Chi, there isn't anything there…just look at it," she told herself and slowly she shifted her feet so that she was facing the mirror. Only her eyes refused to open.

"Come on," she whispered and gradually she opened one eye. There she was, standing in the bathroom in a parallel universe, there was the bathroom and…there was no boy. She sighed a huge sigh of relief, the boy had gone or never was there.

Blinking she stepped away from the mirror almost tripping over the bathroom rug, which was pink and fluffy hand picked out by Ju, turned and fled out of the door onto the soft carpet which led onto the landing. There was a light bubble of chatter coming from one of the many rooms downstairs, life was carrying on like any other day for Mia and Ju…Chihiro longed for the normality again.

Putting on a mask to hide her worries she casually walked into the room. The two were sat at the table, Ju was playing with her hair and Mia was greedily digging into a large bowl of sugar puffs. They both stopped dead when she entered.

Chi smiled at them, a large fake "I'm-not-ok-but-I-don't-want-you-to-know" smile. Ju and Mia realised at once and pretended that nothing had happened, that, after all, was what best friends did best. She was passed a bowl and a packet of Weetabix and she slowly began to munch at it, deep in thought.

Throughout the whole of breakfast all that Chihiro could think about was getting out of there. She just wanted to be on her own, not surrounded by politely quiet friends who desperatly wanted to know what was going on. She loved her friends, really she did, but sometimes she just wanted to be alone. Her head was a mess, it was a mixture of spaghetti, cotton wool and pain. And deep, deep down in the middle of her head…was this odd feeling…of love. But for who?

* * *

A/N: Heya again! Well this chapter was to show you Chihiro and her side of the story. Now I'm pretty sure the message is clear (but just encase it isn't) I will tell you that Chihiro has forgotten everything that happened when she went to the Spirit World. That's pretty vital to the story (seeing as it's based on the fact) 

I just wanted to thank my lovely reviewers! Thankyou so much for reviewing!

**LadyRainStarDragon:** Thankyou! Don't worry I have decided to write more!

**Catse2000:** Thankyou sooo much! Your review really cheered me up so thanx and please review again (if you like the rest of the story that is)!

**AnimeLady Noriko:** Don't worry I only published it on Monday (I think) so you've caught the beginning of my fanfic! Thankyou so much for your review!

**Laura:** You will have to keep reading to find out if they ever meet again. Thankyou for your review!


	3. Anger, confusion and frogs

Chapter 3: Anger, confusion and frogs.

The sun set in both the Spirit world and the Human world indicating the sleep of one and the wake up of the other. Chihiro's world and Haku's world run on completely different times and yet the two teenagers felt the same love for each other, even if one couldn't remember the other.

Chihiro climbed into her soft bed once again and shut her eyes to drift into that troubled sleep where as Haku neatly folded up the matt which he slept on and made his way to Yubaba's office once again.

He had long since been banned from going near the baths since the time he angered a very rich guest by shouting at him. He quickened his pace as he moved past the bubbling rooms full of excited guests waiting to be bathed not wanting to be around happy people when he felt so torn up and dead inside. The dark corridors welcomed him and his bare feet moved effortlessly over the cold stone floor taking him to his destination.

"Master Haku!" squeaked the frog from behind him once again. He never left Haku alone, always trying to get him to cheer up and it angered Haku.

As the words echoed through his head something inside him ripped and let the beast out; angry, hot and powerful.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouted at the small frog, every fibre in his body shaking with fury which came up from no where. His eyes turned hard, his teeth clenched and a hand shot out casting a spell over the frog.

It happened in a moment, a flash of shock. White lightening surrounded the green spirit and his eyes went glazy as he lost consciousness. And then…he disappeared, in a flash of lightening it seemed. The bubble slowly sank to the ground and burst with a small POP as it hit the cold floor causing a flash to bounce around the room.

Haku stood there, transfixed at his own power. His arm was still stretched out, palm out. The look of anger was still painted on his face. Slowly his arm lowered and he blinked a few times before turning his back on the burnt mark that lay on the floor where the bubble had landed.

He began to continue his path when a sudden pain shot through his head and his hands rushed up to clutch it. He let his hair fall over his hands as he cursed and fell to his knees. His eyes were shut tightly but he could see…a field. Not just any field…it was…the field outside the bathhouse, gently flowing in the breeze but soaked in sunlight. What was happening? It was the middle of the night, not the day. And then the image thrust forwards towards the broken down hut which he sat by each day. His stomach jolted as though he was moving and he began to feel queasy. But still the images in his head showed him. The building looked the same, chipped paint, faded colour and…the door…it was wide open! His stomach jolted again as the images shot through the door and down a dark and narrow passage. Excitement filled his heart, the one thing he had wanted to do for years and he was now seeing it all in his head.

The end of the passage was nearing, the human world was getting closer. His heart fluttered in excitement again and again until he thought he could not bare it any longer. He longed to be their, in the human world with Chihiro so much that he would give up everything, anything at all just so that he could see her again and tell her how much he loved her.

But the end of the passage was not getting any closer. The images in his head were fading. Slowly light at the end of the tunnel, the trees he could see in the human world…they were vanishing. Dissolving into blackness. He could feel his hands covering his eyes again, his hair flopped over his head, the cold floor he was kneeling on.

He kept his eyes tightly shut wishing with every fibre of his being that the images would come back, but they did not. His insides knotted and he could feel large tears welling up in his eyes.

"Why?" he whispered to himself as the tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the floor.

Something moved near him and he looked up to see three workers standing looking at him with pity and fear rushing through their eyes. He could not bare it, the pity or the fear. Getting up onto wobbly feet he ran to the nearest window and pulled it open. The black night riddled with thousands of pearly white stars shone through the open window, they were calling to him, crying for him to be with them.

Climbing onto the ledge he let himself fall out of the window, his arms outstretched. Not one thought of the meeting with Yubaba flickered through his mind, he only thought of her, Chihiro. Wind rushed past his ears whistling wordless thoughts and tears from his eyes flew behind him like they had done that fateful day in which Chihiro had told him his name.

The water below was getting closer to him but still he fell ever onwards towards it watching it's shimmering beauty through half open eyes.

Inches away from the waters face the body of the young man transformed into a long white dragon who's eyes reflected the stars and the sky above. He flew against the waters surface for a few feet causing the water to ripple part in a V shape behind him. If anyone had been watching it would have looked beautiful, picturesque. But no spirit was, everyone was hard at work in the bath house. Haku was still alone.

Chihiro frowned in her sleep. She was dreaming of the dragon again, this time flying over the water surface. It would have been a beautiful dream if it had not been for the confusing feelings she was feeling. It was love, but how could it be? She did not know who this boy was and yet…she loved him more than words could say.

It was still dark in her room when the dream caused her to sit up crying. Large pearly white tears which burned her face with even more confusion.

A chill brushed past her and she pulled the covers around her tighter but still sat up hugging her knees. She loved the darkness more than she loved the day. It was mystical and magical, anything could be there lurking in the shadows but this did not scare her…she was enthralled by it. Slowly she reached over to the glass by her bed and sipped the ice-cold water inside it, it tasted musty as though it had sat there for too long. Wrinkling her nose she put the glass down again and slowly got out of bed. Her feet hit the cold floor but she didn't notice. Her mind was on the boy, the dragon, again.

The stars were out, they lit up the sky like a thousand fireflies, and it was beautiful. The world was asleep, everyone was dreaming about wonderful things…but they were all missing this, the beauty which seemed to be there only for her.

Her parents were asleep in a room somewhere down the hall and the twins, who were only four years old, were probably dreaming about sweets or the day at the pool tomorrow. Sometimes she felt cut off from her family. Her parents still loved her but they were always occupied with the twins, they were always getting into trouble. Sometimes she felt…alone. As though half of her was missing.

A breeze swept through the open window and somewhere outside in the garden a frog croaked. She had been leaning on her hands looking out of the window.

"Well I'm not going back to sleep now!" she muttered to the stars as she pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Quietly she shut her door and crept down the hallway, making sure she missed the squeaky floorboard near the stairs. Sounds of her father snoring hit her ears and one of the twins mumbled in their sleep.

The cool evening air hit her as she shut the front door and stepped onto the dewy grass. Her bare toes wiggled in the dampness and she made her way across the garden looking up into the sky the whole time searching for the dragon as if she were going to see it.

The frog croaked again, it was nearby. She decided to find it…try to take her mind off of the boy. The long grass at the back of the garden, which never got cut, rustled and made a soft noise.

"Come on Mr Frog lets find you! No ponds round here!" she giggled searching through the grass. Finally she located the frog and plunged her hands into the grass lifting it up into the moonlight.

She stopped dead.

Was she still asleep or…was that frog….wearing a blue top?

She blinked her eyes and shook her head but the frog still remained there, wearing the ridiculous top.

"What the…?" she began. The frog was huge. Maybe she was still asleep?

"Chi…Chihiro?"

Chihiro froze…did that frog just…talk! Her eyes turned into round balls of fear.

"Is that really you?"

The frogs mouth was moving in time to the words. Her hands began shaking and she dropped the frog on the floor stepping back a few feet.

"W…who's there?" she said looking around her for some sign of a person.

"Me! It is you Chihiro!" the frog jumped into the air. It was talking…and, she pinched herself, she wasn't dreaming.

"Wh…who are you? What do you want?" she quivered.

"It's me! You remember me! From the bath house! Haku will be so pleased that you are still alright!" the frog squeaked jumping out of the grass so that Chihiro could see him.

"I don't know who you are, where you're from or who this…Haku person is…just leave me alone!" she yelled and turned on her foot and ran out of the garden and down the steep hill.

She kept running although her feet were being taken away by the rapidly steep hill. Slipping and sliding on the dewy grass she tried hard not to look behind her but set her eyes onto the forest in front of her.

There was something about this forest…something, which drew her towards it. But there was also a fear deep within her soul telling her not to enter, so she never had. But now…now every part of her was screaming at her to go in.

Twigs and branches scraped along her arms and scratched her to the point of bleeding. Finally she began to slow down taking in gasps of air and wheezing with tiredness.

She glanced over her shoulder for any signs of the frog following her…but there was none. Instead she collapsed on the ground and leaned on a near by tree gulping down the air.

Her hair was a mess and lay limply on her shoulders. After a few seconds she took a small purple hair band off of her wrist and tied it up in one swift movement.

The band was a beautiful one, it always seemed to shimmer even in the darkest nights. She didn't know when or where she had gotten it but she knew there was no way she was giving it away or let it be lost.

She picked herself up again and rubbed the rather large wet patch where she had been sitting on the wet grass. Her arms were badly scratched and blood trickled down her arms. What was she doing here? Confusion ran through her head again but this time it was followed by tears. She hated to be confused and now she was all alone, lost in a wood somewhere, with a talking frog chasing her, scratched arms and a wet bum.

"Don't cry Chihiro, please," came the squeaky voice again.

She turned around to find the frog sat at her face looking concerned. She was exhausted, in pain and confused so she just looked at it hopelessly.

"Please leave me alone," she whispered making no attempt to stop the flow of tears.

The frog looked upset, "You don't remember…do you?" he said slowly.

"Remember what exactly?"

"Five years ago when you visited us and changed everything," he said sadly, "And now I'm stuck here in your world where as I should be filling the baths at the bath house. It's all because he loved you see, and now you've forgotten him and…he'll…" he trailed off.

"What are you talking about!" asked Chihiro crouching down beside the frog. Her face was a mixture of pure fear and complete frustration.

"Please, help me get home," muttered the frog looking at the ground.

"Well I…uh…" began Chihiro.

"You know where it is, trust yourself and follow your feet," commanded the frog.

Disbelief ran through her mind but then…she had this strange feeling…as though…she knew where to go.

Picking up the frog she did what he had said and followed her feet.

It took about ten minutes, some of the time she had her eyes shut as though feeling the way around. Never did she trip or walk into a tree in the darkness. She stopped and opened her eyes. A strange statue stood in front of her and behind that was…the building from her dreams. It was exactly as she had seen it, with the dark passage leading through it.

"Wha…?" she breathed.

The frog jumped from her grasp. "Hooray Sen you've found it! I knew you would!"

"Sen…?"

"Um…I mean Chihiro…Haku told me your real name," the frog confirmed before hopping into the tunnel of the building.

"Come with…no…wait…," the frog stuttered. If Chihiro had forgotten Haku then it would break Haku's heart even more and he could… no she was to stay here. "Sorry…I mean…thank you so much for you help Se…Chihiro, goodbye." And the frog hopped down the path.

Chihiro stood at the tunnel's mouth and looked down it. She was being drawn down there. A wind stirred and leaves were sucked into the tunnel.

_Where does it go?_ She thought, _maybe I should take a look…_

She stepped forwards into the tunnel, her footstep echoed around the walls. It was cold.

_It could end the confusion…_ she thought.

But she stopped. Anything could be down there. She stepped backwards out into the moonlight.

Reluctantly she turned her back on the tunnel and ran home.

* * *

A/N: Ha you all thought she was going in didn't you? Well I decided to keep the story going a bit more before she does, after all most stories make her go into the spirit straight away. She's just a confused, scared teenager…if you were her I doubt you would have the confidence to go in (I know I wouldn't!) especially after just meeting a talking frog.

Thankyou so much for all the reviews! **Hands cookies to all her reviewers**

Please please review again!


	4. The Great Water Spirit

**Chapter 4: The Great Water Spirit**

Yubaba's eyes flickered and glimmered with greed as the hairs on the back of her head slowly pricked up. Something was coming…something…rich. She could smell the gold so strongly that she could almost taste it on her wrinkled tongue. Her hands began to rub themselves together on their own accord as if preparing themselves for the weight of the riches she would shortly be holding and her face reflected that of a man who had not eaten for years and was placed in front of a glorious feast; greed. It controlled her and consumed her like a puppet on a string.

"Haku!" she called into the dark corridor while busying herself with perfecting her repulsive image just so that she could squeeze every last drop out of the rich visitor.

"Haku!" she called again, getting angry this time.

Still there was no movement from within the darkness. She muttered to herself something about him being too moody and how he should get over that damn girl. Deciding she was finally ready to be seen by a wealthy guest she proceeded into the darkness of the corridor leaving three, rather large and rather green, heads guarding her door.

The bath house was the same fluster it always was, only the workers seemed to be a little more at ease than usual.

"Yes, left earlier today so I hear!"

"You think he'll come back?"

"Hope not!"

"Hey come on…after all it is Haku."

She caught snippets of conversations as she walked past various workers. If her mind had not been transfixed on money she may have taken the information in. But, being the greedy ruler of the bath house that she was, she followed the smell of gold which finally led her to it.

Her eyes widened momentarily as she took in the sight of a simple of the Great Spirit of Water. He looked like a human, as most water spirits do, but had this air to him…like someone who had lots and lots of money. His face slowly turned towards Yubaba sending chills down her spine which yelled "money, money, money!" at her.

"I believe you are the one in charge of this bath house?" he asked politely pausing momentarily to adjust his suit.

"I am indeed, Great Water Spirit," she said bowing low and sweeping back her skirt at the same time.

"Then I should like very much to speak to you in private," he said ignoring the workers who had crowded around imitating their boss and slavering over the gold.

"Why of course good Spirit," even Yubaba could not take the shock out of her voice. Why was he not taking a bath? Why was he not showering her in riches?

She led him up to her office trying in vain to make small talk with a spirit who clearly did not want to talk to her informally. He walked a good few paces away from her as if he could smell some invisible sent which drifted wherever she walked. This apparently went straight over Yubaba's head…all she could think about was riches and gold even though she had more than she could handle.

He entered her office with a great manor of dislike. His nose wrinkled at the sight of the vulgar lampshades and the terrible wallpaper which surrounded him. He refused the chair she drew up for him and instead walked to the window where he gazed out over the moonlight water which shimmered and glittered below him. Naturally he was fond of water, seeing as he controlled it.

"Yubaba, I have been informed that you have the Spirit of the Kohaku River residing here," he said eventually, turning his back to the water and staring into her selfish, piggy little eyes.

She looked at him blankly before realising who he was talking about, "Ah Haku," she muttered.

The Spirit nodded showing no expression in his eyes or face.

Yubaba thought wildly for a moment. Why was he asking for the boy? And what did he mean by reside? Haku was a worker not a guest.

"Keep no secrets from me, I am a very bad Spirit to be on the wrong side of," he said sharply.

Yubaba's eyes widened with fear. From behind the great water spirit, out of the window, she could see the moonlight water but no longer did it rest on the ground but rose to a terrible height until it was higher than the bath house itself. It lurched and quivered with a dark force of anger controlled by the Great Water Spirit himself.

Gulping she made up her mind, "He is a worker here," she began.

"A worker!" the Spirit snapped, "The spirit of the Kohaku river is a worker at a bath house!" His face was a mixture of shock and anger. After all he was in charge, so to speak, of all water related things.

Yubaba was trying to hide her fear but being a rather old lady she was finding difficulties. Reluctantly she spun out the story of how Haku had lost the will to be the river spirit he was after Chihiro left. However she had not lost all of her talents and managed to seal the fact that she had imprisoned him by taking his name and had controlled him through a black slug.

He swallowed down the information with and angry scowl over his face which pierced into the eyes of Yubaba. Once she had finished he paused for a fraction of a second before continuing in the same important tone of voice which he conducted from the beginning.

"Then I must speak to him. I have a wonderful plan for the Spirit of the Kohaku river."

Yubaba gulped, "Of course, great spirit, I shall fetch him to you at once."

She slammed the doors behind her and paused for a moment's breather for only a moment before rushing down into the baths to find Haku calling out his name and snapping at workers if they had seen him on the way. The hot red faces of the workers all stared at her wide eyes claiming that they had not seen him all day before rushing back to work to set a good impression for themselves.

Yubaba was getting angry, the vain in the centre of her head seemed to be throbbing with almighty power which stirred fear in the workers of the bathhouse. It was drawing towards daybreak and soon the Great Water Spirit may be leaving with bad reviews for her precious bath house.

"YOU!" she screamed to the floor manager, "Where is Haku!" she demanded her eyes wide with anger.

"H…He hasn't been here all night!" stuttered the poor manager who was having great difficulty keeping himself upright as her unusually large nose threatened to topple him over.

"Well I want him now!" she growled in anger.

"Wait!" squeaked a small voice, "Please miss!"

Yubaba turned around to be confronted by the small spirit of a child. She was a worker at the bath house and had not yet learnt not to talk to Yubaba out of line.

"What!" screamed Yubaba.

The child gulped and took a small step away from her ever growing power.

"I…I saw Haku land upstairs not twenty minutes ago miss…" she stuttered.

Yubaba's face turned from one of pure anger and hatred to one of sincere relief. She turned and ran up to where the child had pointed leaving the child un-thanked for her troubles.

It was the direction of Haku's room and as she spun around the corner she saw him turn delicately back from the great white dragon into the heart broken teenager. He began to flop onto his bed when Yubaba's powers grabbed hold of him and pulled him towards her.

"Where have you been!" she yelled at him.

No answer. His blank eyes stared at nothing.

"This is no time you're your love sick heart you fool! The Great Water Spirit has come to visit you!"

There was a pause before a flicker of life stirred from within Haku somewhere. Slowly he blinked and focused on Yubaba's face.

"He's come…here?" he said, hardly believing that the Spirit in control of all water elements was here to see him.

Yubaba half dragged half pulled Haku to the doors of her office where she turned on him with a fierce look in her eyes.

"Snap out of it Haku! If you dare make a fool of my bath house then I swear I shall banish you from here."

Haku remained silent, his head was a mess. Until now all he ever thought about was her, but now that something else was sitting in his head he was finding it hard to cope.

The doors creaked open in front of him and for a moment he was dazzled at the difference of light from the dark hallway outside and the well lit room which was Yubaba's office. Slowly his eyes focused in the new light and stood in front of him was the Spirit in control of him.

"Come in, Spirit of the Kohaku river," said the Great Spirit gently.

As Haku stepped into the room the doors magically closed before Yubaba could re-enter. The slam bounced around in Haku's mind like an echo.

"Well do you not have a bow for your master?" uttered the Spirit.

_A bow?_ Thought Haku as a frown rippled over his face,_ Am I not a free spirit?_

"Yes…a bow. It is what is accustomed when one meets it's master. And you should know by not that there is no such thing as a free spirit," said the Spirit reading his mind.

Haku's frown rippled over his face once again as he mentally locked his brain from his "master".

"…but there may be such a thing as a spirit who is rude enough to close his mind to his master," the Great Spirit continued with an air of annoyance.

"I apologise," Haku spoke, "but I find it is rude to read one's mind and know unconscious things about a spirit."

Silence rang through the room and bounced off the walls.

The Great Water Spirit breathed out heavily, "I came here Kohaku River Spirit, to tell you your future and I believe that you will be heavily impressed."

"Decide my future!" Haku said in shock.

"Yes, that is what I do you see," the Spirit continued, ignoring Haku's shock.

"But…I have already decided," Haku pleaded, "I wish to ask you if you could terminate..."

But he was interrupted, "You shall marry my daughter."

Silence hit the room.

* * *

A/N: Hello again everyone! Thank you so much for all the reviews you've been giving me! _hands out chocolate chip cookies_ for a special treat 

Ok so I'm having problems with my story and I need your help! I do have a plan for the story but it all seems a bit….bitty. Get my meaning? One minute its Haku, the next it's Chihiro and then suddenly its Yubaba (where did she come from?). Does anyone mind this? Its because I'm writing two different sort of stories, one about Chihiro and another about Haku. Soon enough it will all be one big story but I just wanted to check if the "bittyness" of the story was bothering anyone. Don't feel bad to say yes it is!

Thank you! _throws out more cookies_

Please Review!


	5. Out with the Twins

**Chapter 5: Out with the Twins**

"Married?" Haku whispered through the darkness in his head, "Married…?"

The Great Water Spirit waited impatiently for the pained expression on the boy's face to vanish and for it to break into a smile, but it would never come.

Feelings erupted from deep within Haku. Bursting out of their tightly locked up shell they swarmed and spread out through his entire body leaving limbs shaking with sadness. He had no room for anger, not within this body, which had for so long been rejected of any feelings of sorrow and grief. It was as though a gate had opened and the floods that were once kept at bay were now running freely destroying everything he had created to ensure he felt no sorrow.

Slowly a tear fell from his closed eye and tricked down his cheek. He felt like that twelve year old boy again who had just watched Chihiro walk back through the door into the human world.

Chihiro…that name, the image of her face. Another tear fell from his eyes.

The Great Water Spirit frowned and looked upon the crying boy with a mixture of anger and shock. "Pull yourself together Kohaku River Spirit!" He angered.

"My name…is Haku," he whispered through the tears which shook his body.

"No! Your name is Kohaku River Spirit!" spat the man who stood before Haku.

Haku opened his eyes and looked through blurry vision at his master spirit. How could someone who barely knew him order him to marry? And yet…there was nothing he could do. The Great Water Spirit was in control of any water all over the world and as Haku was indeed a water spirit then going against his word would be like disobeying a prison officer.

But the feeling for Chihiro was too strong. The window stood behind his master spirit…it was so welcoming.

The Great Water Spirit was shouting at him but the words only fell upon deaf ears. Slowly Haku took a step forwards. His body not used to the pain he was feeling stumbled slightly but he walked through it towards the window.

His mind was screaming "No!" but his heart was ebbing him on. Which was he to obey? His heart or his mind…?

And then he saw through the window a smiling face, long brown hair, sparkling eyes, the face of the one he loved. If he could just reach her everything would be all right.

The stumble changed into a walk, the walk into a run. Soon he was a step away from the window and could feel himself transforming into the smooth dragon slowly.

However the Great Spirit became aware of what was happening. Summoning the water below to attend to his call two large hands, made completely of water, rose in an instant closing the window and creating a barrier of water outside.

"STOP!" he shouted while shaking with rage and anger which coursed through his body like a nightmare.

But Haku took no notice. Smashing through the window and the waters he was left with gashes and slashes up and down his sleek dragon body causing blood to erupt from the veins below and seep like a river into the waters which surrounded.

Un-prepared for this sudden break for freedom the Great Spirit was left in astonishment for a split second but he soon found his strength again. Once again the hands of water rose to cause barriers and stop Haku from escaping.

The dragon madly dodged and squirmed the water but the loss of blood from the wounds and the new sadness which filled him was slowly weakening him. The Great Spirit laughed, a long hearty laugh which erupted from the depths of his belly and shook the walls. It was not everyday he was to be entertained with such sport.

Haku dropped out of the sky closing his eyes with silent defeat. The water was consuming him and slowly he felt himself give in to the darkness. He could not win against a spirit so great in power and influence. He could not win against the world which trapped him inside and daunted him with the images of the only person he wanted to see but could not.

Downwards he fell as though falling through a dream which had turned to a nightmare. The ringing laughter of his master echoed through his ears which was joined by another. A light laughter, rippling with ease and malice that bubbled up from the land beneath him. It was the spirit world and it was laughing at him.

Meanwhile back in the human world things were not going smoothly at all for Chihiro who had not slept a wink since that strange night with the frog and the dark mysterious passageway.

Two days had passed and each minute of deprived sleep showed as they etched themselves under her eyes and poured through the display of her slowed movements.

What should she do? She could not very well go and ask someone what to do for she was in this alone. Her parents and friends would think her mad and her sisters would laugh as though it was some story made up for their enjoyment.

What if she went through the door and couldn't find a way back? What if there was a place on the other end filled with strange talking creatures? Or, what haunted her the most, what if she went through only to find nothing there but the rest of the forest? Then nothing would be solved and she'd be back to the nightmares.

"Chihiro!" came a sharp voice from behind her. Waking from her thought she turned sleepily to see her father stood behind her with an angry look on his face informing her he was not best pleased.

"What?" she asked quietly as her head throbbed with tired pain.

"I asked you five minutes ago to take the twins out and have you done it? No! I come in here to find you daydreaming while your sisters are outside getting dirty! Well I won't have it! I just won't stand for it!.."

He continued with his rant as she slowly stood up, leaning on the chair for support, and glanced out of the window. She didn't know how it was worldly possible but her twin sisters were outside covered head to toe in sloppy wet mud. In a matter of minutes they had managed to locate it like a wasp drawn to sticky sweet things and had, obviously, been engaged in a full throttle mud throwing fight.

Sighing she slipped her shoes onto her feet and, grabbing some clean clothes for them from their closet, she exited the house leaving her father still lecturing her on how not to behave in his house.

"Come over here you mucky pup's," she called to the two girls who looked like mud monsters.

Immediately they came running over to her with smiles the size of over grown banana's plastered on their faces. They adored their sister and looked up to her even when she was shouting at them.

Her mother had often sighed at her and wondered out loud why they wouldn't behave for her and her father had insisted that she had a special touch. Chihiro, however, did not like her sisters that much. As far as she was concerned they were just in the way all the time and taking up too much of her time.

"Ok get those clothes off, your filthy! Then put these on," she handed them the fresh clothes and waited as they obediently stripped off and changed. Their hair and faces were still splattered with the slowly drying dirt but Chihiro couldn't be bothered to make them wash, it would only cause another hour of waiting while they had a water fight. Also her mind was set on other things, mainly the dragon and the peeling funfair like passageway.

"Ready!" chirped one of the twins.

"No I was ready first!" insisted the other.

"No you weren't! No you weren't! Tell er Chi, tell er I was ready first!"

The bickering had started again and Chihiro sighed rubbing her head with frustration. "Ok shut up both of you," she demanded, "and it's Her not 'er' ok?"

They both fell silent and gazed at their feet scuffling them absent mindedly on the grass below. Somewhere from behind her she heard her mother sigh at the amount of control her eldest daughter could master over the two young rebels who refused point blankly to obey anything their mother or father instructed them to do.

The sun was shining in all it's heated glory as the three sisters set off down the grassy slope away from their parents who were in great need of a rest.

"Chi?" chirped up the twins with eager little faces after a while, "where are we a going?"

"Wherever you want to go," muttered Chihiro who was deep in thought before being interrupted.

"Where EVER we want!" they gasped at the freedom, "In THERE!" they said it in a hushed whisper as though some mysterious magic was happening in the place where they pointed.

Chihiro looked up and was struck with sudden surprise as she noticed her feet had lead her straight to the forest she had visited a few nights ago.

"Mummy and Daddy say there's something wrong with that forest," they whispered in the same tone as before. "Are you going to say we can't go in there?" the sounded disappointed for Chihiro had stopped.

She paused for a moment staring into the forest. It looked perfectly innocent except for that feeling which drifted out of it. It felt like some kind of magic, it smelt like adventure, it tasted, yes it even tasted, like excitement.

She looked at the twins, their round faces were lit up with excitement and curiosity.

"We'll go in," Chihiro said eventually. The twins darted forwards but were stopped by Chihiro's words of "but you must stay close to me otherwise you'll get lost and the monsters will gobble you up!"

It was the perfect thing to say for they stayed close by her side as they entered the forest once again. They ran, skipped, walked and danced their way behind her following the footsteps that only Chihiro seemed to know.

Eventually they reached it again, that paint chipped door with the uncanny feel to it. Sunlight dazzled around them as it squeezed and pushed it's way through the branches and leaves high above them pouring it's light onto the building and illuminating the peeling paint and shabby exterior.

"What IS it?" gasped one of her sisters who's face was a look of sheer shock.

"It looks to me like a building and a passageway," Chihiro sighed sarcastically.

"Let's go in!" squealed the other who rushed forwards towards the passageway.

"NO!" The shout came out of nowhere and Chihiro looked around to see who had said it before realising that it came from her own mouth.

The twins froze and stared at their sister's sudden harshness.

"I mean…" she spluttered, "You have no idea what might be in there. Maybe monsters, maybe bears!" she found her voice and began making up a story so the twins wouldn't enter.

"I heard once," she began, much to the delight of her sisters, "that an old man who lived near here many years ago saw a great black bear enter the forest with teeth as white as the moon and claws as sharp as knives! And each night the bear would come out of the forest and slowly drag a child back to his hut each night to gnaw at their bones and slurp at the dripping blood as the child thrashed about in fear. But not a scream could be heard for the bear's hut was so deep in the forest that the voices of the little children could not be heard from the town's people."

The twins clutched each other listening fearfully to their sister's tale.

"One by one every child disappeared from the town and the town's people got together in groups to hunt the bear down, but no one returned from the forest and soon the town was few of people that the remaining people fled and never returned. The bear is still said to live in the forest, waiting, waiting until an unsuspecting child would walk into his layer before…CRUNCH!" she made a leap for the twins, "slurp, slurp, gnaw gnaw…and then your gone…"

The tale ended and the two four year olds stood shivering from head to toe with fear.

"The layer of the bear was said to have chipped red and green paint and a long…dark passageway leading to the mouth of the hungry monster within…"

That had done it, the children ran to Chihiro, grasping at her leg fearfully and whimpering desperately that they might leave this place at once.

Chihiro smiled to herself as she ran with the two out of the forest and all the way back home without stopping. They ran to their room without saying another word.

Chihiro, however, remained by the door and instead of taking off her shoes she grabbed a nearby jacket and opened the door again letting the bright light pour into the hallway.

"Where are you going?" her mother queried, "You've done a great job with the twins you know, they're quiet as anything, it's blissful!"

"Out," muttered Chihiro, ignoring the praise her mother was giving her. Sometimes she was bitter that her mother could not praise her for anything other than her work on her beloved twins.

"Be back for supper!" called her mother after her but Chihiro was already down the garden path and out the back gate.

She knew where she was going, her mind was made up. Whether it lead to another place completely or whether it was just back into the forest she didn't care. She simply had to find out.

The sound of everyday life bubbled from the town behind her but she turned her back on it. She was finally going to do it, she was going through the passage.

* * *

**A/N:** Whoops I forgot I had this story going! Well here is another chapter. Sorry if it's a bit long but I really enjoyed writing about the twins As you might have been able to tell I haven't got names for them yet, can't think of any!

So Haku's in the hands of the great water spirit (by the way I really don't have any idea about any of these spirits so I'm kind of making them up, I apologise if anything is completely wrong) and Chihiro is finally going to make her way to the Spirit World.

Will she remember him? Will he even be around for her to meet him? Stay tuned for the next chapter of….uh…what was it called again? Oh yeah "A Love Forgotten!"

And please please please review!


	6. Before they met

**Chapter 6: Before they met**

The sound of gently crunching leaves and breaking twigs moved through the forest as Chihiro made her way, breathlessly, towards the passage which had haunted her ever since her eyes had fallen upon it's faded walls. Butterflies few screaming inside her as she glimpsed the flaked paint ahead of her.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

She stopped before it her hands wringing together. Now she stood there before it the idea of entering it was no longer seeming like such a good one.

Fear and nerves flew throughout her body as a breeze swept past and mysteriously fluttered down the passage as though being sucked. Her head buzzed with excitement and anticipation until she felt almost dizzy with the strange mixture of the two. It was now or never, she whispered to herself.

"Either now or never at all." She said out loud as though trying to convince herself.

And then she laughed, a nervous laugh with no confidence within it at all. The other end was more likely to lead to more of the forest, there was nothing to fear. Just more of the forest…

But the feeling was still there, as though she knew that it would lead to somewhere else.

"Just go in," she muttered.

A foot stretched out in front of her and soon she was edging forwards into the passage. Lightly she stretched out a hand and let her fingers brush the uneven surface of the flaking paint and let it crumble into her palm where she brushed it uncertainly onto the floor.

And then…

Darkness engulfed her. It pressed upon her like a pillow, ready to smother the life out of her. Letting out a cry she tried to step back out the way she had come but another breeze sucked its way into the passage and this time she felt it's force. Whipping her hair and skirt in front of her she felt as though she was being dragged forwards by some invisible thread.

"No!" she cried as tears sprung to her eyes, "let me go!"

But it was no use, for it was only a breeze. And then, just as quickly as it had started, it finished.

Her body trembled from head to toe as she timidly opened a tear stained eye. But she was no longer in the dark, dank passageway. Instead she was to cast her eyes on something quite different and opened her eyes to reveal that before her stood a beautiful meadow. The grass swayed gently in the breeze as the giant sun above spread its rays over the land. It looked like something out of a picture book and for a moment she couldn't help but to gaze in wonder.

But the fear which was only minutes ago clutching at her heart soon returned.

Where was she? Where was the forest she had left?

She let in a uneven breath, the kind that children make as they gasp in between tears. Wiping her damp eyes she turned to find a door sitting behind her on a building which looked exactly like the one in the forest, the paint chipped, the colour faded.

"Where am I?"

* * *

"I will not be spoken to in such a light!" 

"I do apologise, he is only young, please!"

"And keeping him as a worker? A worker!"

"I know, I do – "

"No Yubaba, I've had enough. He must learn!"

The shouts echoed through his mind like knives and woke him from a painful sleep. He tried sitting up but the pain in his head seared like razors forcing him back down. His vision was blurred with red, his own blood.

"Give him a moment! Please!" Came Yubaba's pleads from the corridor outside.

Haku opened his eyes again. He was in Yubaba's office lying on the cold hard floor which was sticky with blood.

"Get out of the way!" came an angry voice from behind.

Panic shook Haku's body as he fought back the urge to cry out in pain. Slowly he pulled his body up on shaking arms and held onto the desk for support.

The door burst open and flew off it's hinges to hit the glamorous wall of Yubaba's office and there stood the Great Water Spirit in all his anger and rage.

"You dared to run from me?" he whispered in a deadly voice which shook the floor with silent anger.

He looked at the pathetic sight before him. Haku, holding weakly onto the desk beside him, arms shaking, with blood dripping down his body onto the floor below. His hair was matted over his face only to reveal his tightly shut eyes which were blocking the tears of pain to flow and his curled lip.

"Well?" came that voice again.

Words shook from Haku's body as he tried to explain, but the Spirit before him was not interested.

"And yet, you show determination. You shall marry my daughter."

"No!" gasped Haku as he struggled to maintain his posture.

"Oh yes," laughed the Spirit, "you will."

And with that he turned upon his heel and strutted out of the doorway, his grey suit trailing behind him.

A quiet cry came from Haku as he fell to the floor, giving into the pain.

Yubaba entered and looked at the pitiful mess on her floor with an air of annoyance.

"Do you realise what you could have released upon my bathhouse?" she questioned to someone she knew would not care.

But Haku did not answer, instead Yubaba was replied by the tapping of feet as they paced outside the door. Lin nervously dithered about by the door looking anxiously from Haku to the steadily increasing pool of blood on the floor.

"And just what do you think you are doing?" Screamed Yubaba with an evil look plastered across her face.

"I…Haku…" she mumbled quietly looking at her feet.

"Leave him there to die, he's cost me too much," she spat as she walked to the window with a frown on herself. However she soon noticed, from the corner of her giant eye, the item Haku had bought back from his last mission as it glimmered expensively in the light.

"Wait," she mumbled as she changed her mind, "take him away…"

She did not sound impressed at her decision but deep within her she realised that he was her best chance of fulfilling her greed.

Lin darted forwards and crouched beside Haku's weakened body. Tucking her hair behind an ear her hand gently rolled him onto his back to revealed a pale, blood stained face.

"Faster!" snapped Yubaba as she settled herself beside a pile of glittering diamonds and began examining them all separately.

Lin scowled at the ground as she obeyed her boss's command. Pushing an arm below the young man's head and another under his knees she prepared herself for his weight.

Yubaba sighed heavily making it clear she was getting bored of the situation.

Lin pulled herself to a standing position taking Haku with her. But she stopped in wonder for a few moments as she felt the weight of the boy in her arms. He was not heavy at all but lighter than a ten year old.

"Out!" Came the angry voice behind the desk.

Lin dashed out of the door as it slammed behind her with such a force that the bang echoed all the way down the hall. The lift stood quietly waiting for her to return and dipped slightly as she stepped into it.

"Haku," she muttered sadly, "what's happened to you?"

He was thin. It looked as though he had not eaten properly for years let alone had a good night's sleep. And now with the cuts and bruises smothering his body he looked helpless, but not unhandsome.

She began to make her way towards Haku's sleeping quarters when suddenly, half way there, she changed her mind.

"Kamaji?" asked Lin to the boiler man's back.

Kamaji turned to the voice and smiled as he greeted Lin, but as soon as he noticed Haku in her arms his face fell to a frown.

"What…?"

Lin explained as they lay Haku on an old rug and covered him with a blanket. Kamaji was a kind spirit, always willing to listen to those he knew and now that Haku lay before him in need of help he forgot all about the boy's recent anger and remembered the younger Haku he used to respect.

"And I bought him here because…well I didn't want to leave him alone and your always here so I thought…"

"Of course I'll look after him," said the old spirit as he gazed into the boy's sleeping face.

Time slowly ticked by and soon the bath house was alive again. It's insides breathing with guests and it's outsides sighing with the strain from the workers.

Bath tokens clattered by the handfuls down to Kamaji's work station and soon he was rushed off his hands grinding compounds up and turning the large, rusted wheel while grumbling to himself about the lack of work the tiny soot balls were accomplishing.

Haku was left, undisturbed, in the corner where he tossed and turned restlessly in an uneasy sleep.

Meanwhile Chihiro stumbled, half afraid, half excited, over the rocks leading up to the only destination she could see for miles around. A paint chipped, colour faded building with steam rising from within.

* * *

A/N: Not so much happened in this chapter but I had to get it all out of the way before the next chapter otherwise there would be this rather large gaping hole where you'd all be scratching your head's saying "so what happened in between that then?" And then I'd be trying to explain and then….it would all get confusing. 

Anyway I hope you enjoyed it even if there wasn't much there. I'll try to be faster with the next update.

Oh what is going to happen in the next chapter? >wink wink, nudge nudge 

Oh and please please review! >hands out cookies to lovely reviewers 


	7. A Brief Encounter

**Chapter 7: A Brief Encounter**

Gasps and heavy breathing swept past her lips as she shut her eyes tightly in effort to remove the picture of those…those…things out of her mind. But her shaking, terrified body refused to move any more and collapsed against a nearby wall, which hid her from the view of those on the street.

Desperately she forced her body to stop breathing and strained her ears for a sound, any sound.

But it was only the murmur of those…things on the street.

She had lost it, that foul smelling creature which had chased after her. Waiting a few moments longer just to be sure, and to calm herself down a bit, she darted with a quick movement behind a pile of rubbish which was packed neatly nearby.

Crouching down in the dirt she hugged tightly to her knees and, with much frustration, felt her eyes filling with tears.

Why was she here? Of all places? Why could she not have just stuck to the world she knew best and ignored her fascination with the damned door?

But deep in her heart she heard the answer whispering to her quietly. _It was that burning desire of yours, the answer to your troubles…_

She gripped her head and moaned silently to herself willing the words to disappear, why did she have to be so inquisitive all the time?

A noise from within the rubbish bags suddenly startled her and she stumbled in her quick attempt to stand up. The bag actually _moved._ Backing away, her eyes wide with fear, she hit the wall.

She was too tired to run. She was too tired of being afraid. She was afraid of what would happen if she did not run. The vicious circle bit at her.

"You!" squeaked a familiar voice from beneath the bags, "you! It's you! You're you! I mean….you're here!"

From under the bags emerged the small creature she had met only a few nights ago.

For the first time in hours Chihiro let out a sigh of relief and sank to the floor feeling the release of moderate calmness fill her body and warm her fingers.

"What are you…?" questioned the frog who had a very confused look upon his head.

"This is all your fault!" began Chihiro, sounding a little more angry than she had intended, "First you come and frighten me half out of my wits, then you take me to the damned place, and now I'm here being chased by monsters!"

There was a short silence as the two observed one another.

"Monsters?" came a slightly humoured voice, it was clear the frog was trying hard not to laugh.

"Those things!" she pointed desperately out onto the street with a shaking finger.

"Monsters?" laughed the frog, this time clearly amused.

Chihiro scowled unimpressed by the frog's teasing.

"Those aren't monsters, they're spirits," added the frog looking concernedly at the angry face in front of him.

"…Spirits?"

"This is the Spirit World, I'm surprised you don't…." the frog stopped. The word that was going to follow was "remember" but seeing the confusion on her face he had stopped himself. It was clear she did not remember, or had had the memory erased.

"What I meant to say was, I'm surprised you managed to get here," he finished feeling satisfied at his quick patch up.

"But…but…if they were Spirits then why was one of them chasing me?" whimpered Chihiro.

"Did he smell like old socks and rotten egg?"

"Yes!"

"That's just a stink spirit, they'll chase anyone who doesn't smell of high spirit blood for a bath," he said knowledgably.

"I'm not a Spirit!" she cried looking outraged, "I'm alive…aren't I?" fear dawned on her face again but before it could sink in the frog chirped up,

"Of course you're alive. But you don't smell of high spirit blood and they'll chase anything that doesn't. Anyway I have to get back to the bath house, I was only supposed to have a five minute break!"

Chihiro's face fell, "What will I do? How do I get home?"

_Home?_ Thought the frog, _oh dear_

"Uh…come with me to the bath house. You'll have to…have to…ask someone else about getting home," and with that he hopped, at quite a fast rate, in the direction of the bath house.

Deciding to leave the worry of getting home until later Chihiro picked herself up and ran after him. Her legs were still tired from running before but as soon as she saw the spirits on the street again they were given a little extra energy and she speeded on after the frog.

They passed shops and restaurants by the dozen all with sweet, mouth watering smells erupting from within. Her stomach growled in hungry protest as it tasted the heavily scented air but she ignored it. Soon the frog began to slow down and great mounds of steam could be seen filling the air ahead with a warm glow.

And then she stopped dead in her tracks.

The scene ahead of her, the bright red bridge at her feet, the feel of the place. She knew it.

It was the place from her dreams. The setting that surrounded her every night before she opened her eyes for the morning.

Her mouth stood open, her eyes fixated on the image she had come to know, fear and adore.

The frog turned and looked at the girl's face who's eyes squinted in concentration.

"Sen…uh…Chihiro?" he corrected himself.

She didn't move.

"Chihiro?" he tried again.

She blinked and gazed back down at the frog.

"We really should get going, you're blocking the bridge."

Snapping out of her trance she looked around her. Sure enough Spirits were stood waiting around her, some with less patient looks upon their faces than others.

Blushing, she walked forwards again getting closer and closer to the place she had been many times before but had never actually visited. Or so she thought.

The frog suddenly disappeared into a garden around the back so suddenly that Chihiro almost lost track of him.

But she ducked into the heavily scented bushes and flowers which made up the garden and followed the frog out of another door which led to…another image she knew.

But this time it was not something she had seen in her dreams. She was sure of it. But still she actually recognised it. It was as though some part of her mind had been hidden from her and was randomly spitting out images to her.

Again she snapped out of her daze only to realise the frog was halfway down the long staircase that was attached to the back of the building.

A long, uneven stairway which had no railing and stood miles off of the ground. She gulped and bit her lip nervously as she tentatively put out a foot onto the stair below and stepped down.

She found that if she grasped firmly hold of the wall, well as best as she could, and faced away from the drop of certain death, then she could slowly make her way down. It was a slow process but gradually she made her way down the staircase.

The frog sat waiting at the end with a slightly impatient look upon his face but moved off as soon as she stepped onto the bottom stair.

They entered a room filled with machines all buzzing and humming emitting steam from every angle. But there was a sticky hotness about the place and Chihiro was soon to find out why.

A huge fire filled half of the second room filling it with a bright orange glow which warmed a cold face in seconds.

But it was not the fire which had entranced Chihiro. Nor was it the odd balls of soot which were scurrying about carrying lumps of coal. It was not either the six armed man who sat in the middle grinding strongly smelling herbs.

The image of a boy in his late teen years lay under a blanket tossing and turning in a troubled sleep. Blood stains lay in patches over the thick wool of the covers which kept his face from view.

But she remained still, her eyes focused on only one thing as though there was nothing else in the world to look at.

"Miss Chihiro?" squeaked the frog who was at the other end of the room holding a sliding door open, "please come this way."

"But…" she trailed off still staring at the covers.

"Please!" pleaded the frog.

Stepping lightly, her eyes not moving from the boy, she made her way to the frog wishing she could pull back the covers and see who lay beneath it. Something in her heart had stirred the moment her eyes fell upon the bundle, but she did not understand why.

But the frog winced impatiently dithering from one foot to another so she prised her eyes away from him and followed the frog out into another room.

* * *

A/N: Haha you all thought she was going to meet him didn't ya? Well don't fear, I'm getting there. Things to do, things to do!

Sorry for the late update again. Stuck right in the middle of a nasty year for work and have so much to do  I'll try to update as soon as possible.

Until then it'd be so great to get some reviews! So please review!


	8. Yubaba's Lair

**Chapter 8: Yubaba's Layer.**

The low hum of the elevator juddered quietly in the background as the two stood in complete silence. If she had been concentrating she might have noticed the rumble of the floor beneath her, which tried in vain to tickle at her feet. Only her mind was elsewhere. In fact her mind lay a few floors down where she had caught a glimpse of black hair beneath a blanket in the corner.

She didn't even wonder why she was so obsessed with it, she knew that under that blanket lay the answers to the thousands of questions which ran through her head every day. If only the frog had let her stay, even for a few more moments.

The frog, however, was stood humming to himself and impatiently tapping a webbed foot upon the floor of the lift.

"Where are we going?" queried Chihiro at long last.

The frog glanced at her, "To the top," he paused, "to see the boss."

"The boss?" she gulped.

Finally the lift came to a jerky stop and the lift doors slid open on squeaky hinges to reveal an overly decorated corridor, which smelt highly of gold.

"This way!" chirped up the small frog as he hopped forwards in the direction of a rather large, rather richly decorated, pair of doors.

She followed the echoing splat as the frog hopped to the door.

"In you go then," the frog muttered impatiently as he watched her standing there.

"Your…not coming?"

"Oh no, you must go on your own." He smiled at her, but it wasn't a very convincing smile. In fact it was one of those obviously forced smiles which look more like a cringe than anything else.

Lifting a shaking hand Chihiro pulled upon the knocker (which was encrusted with rubies and emeralds) and let out three booming knocks.

"I'll see you later Se…uh…Chihiro," said the frog as he turned and hopped back to the lift which stood waiting patiently for his return.

"Wait…!" begged Chihiro but the frog was already in the lift muttering something under his breath.

"Chihiro…. _Chihiro…_not Sen…"

And he was gone.

"Enter," Boomed a voice from within the rooms ahead of her.

Shaking from head to toe Chihiro opened the door as it groaned heavily on it's hinges.

The corridor ahead of her was exactly the same as the one outside. Painted with rich colours and decorated with expensive jewels. How could anyone live in such an over the top place? She wondered.

"In here." Came the voice again.

And then a scene completely out of place hit Chihiro's eyes. In a place of such expense she found herself looking through a doorframe with no door and a rather large pool of blood shimmering on the floor.

There were two girls, probably no older than Chihiro herself, mopping it up with old rags and wearing strange pink uniforms that stirred some memory in Chihiro's mind, but it was gone in a second.

"That will do girls," said the owner of the voice to the two mopping up the blood, "Come back in ten minutes."

The two girls got up silently and bowed to the ugly woman in the corner and swept out of the room. But before they got as far as the empty doorframe their eyes hit Chihiro and their faces turned into one of shock. It was as though…they _recognised _Chihiro.

"Out!" screamed the lady and they dashed out of the room as fast as they could.

"Now then, my dear," she said through gritted teeth, "what exactly is it you would like?"

Chihiro spun around and took in an eyeful of the old haggard woman before her. Her enormous head compensated for her short body, her eyes bulged out of her face as though they were desperate to escape her head, her mouth contorted in an everlasting sneer as though it had been ironed in and her skin showed signs of thousands of years worth of wrinkles. But it was not so much her face as her nose which took up most of her body. It stuck out of her face like a beak which was too big for her body. Gigantic nostrils which could probably smell dinner cooking from miles away twitched in the most ugliest of ways which made them look as though you could probably climb up them and go to sleep without feeling cramped. In all it looked as though somebody had chiselled her out for a competition of "Who has the most ugliest face" and saying that they would have probably won first prize with honours.

"I…um…" stuttered Chihiro as she tried not to stare at the woman, if you could call her a woman at all.

"You'll have to excuse the mess," came the lady's reply, "But certain…things…have been happening." She swept a hand across the empty doorframe and in an instant the door was replaced by a new one.

Chihiro's eyes widened and her mouth opened a little as she gazed at the brand new door.

"Now then, it's not nice to stare is it?" frowned the woman. "I am Yubaba, this is my bath house, and you are intruding. Now tell me why you are here."

"I…well…I'm….sorry," she mumbled playing with her hands and staring at the floor.

"Sorry just doesn't cut it," spat the woman moving back towards her desk and picking up a piece of paper that Chihiro could not see.

It was a contract and it was already filled in with a small scrawl of handwriting. Yubaba glanced at it and sighed heavily before looking at the person who had signed it so many years ago.

"I have no jobs, you'll have to leave," she said simply.

"Please…I just want to go home…" Chihiro fought back the tears.

"Home?" spat Yubaba, "Home is not easily reached once you've broken the seal between the spirit world and the human world…again," she said the last word under her breath and rolled her eyes so the girl in front of her would not hear.

"I'm sorry," whimpered Chi as a tear fell from her eye.

Sighing, as though she was taking on some heavy duty, Yubaba placed her hands on the desk in front of her and stared at the pitiful mess of a human, or what she considered a pitiful mess. "Two days," she said.

Chihiro looked up at her with puffy eyes.

"Two days, and then come back to me. I might have a job for you then, might I say. Don't get your hopes up. And then if you work hard like a good girl," she patronised, "I might consider opening the door for you to go home."

Catching her breath Chihiro looked at the ugly mess of a woman and dared to smile. She no longer seemed so ugly now that Chihiro saw hope reflected in her chiselled skin.

"Now get out of my sight before I change my mind. One of the girls will take you to a room." And with that she turned her back on the girl and stared out of the window muttering something under her breath which sounded a little like, "maybe that'll cheer the boy up a little, even without her memory."

Bowing to Yubaba's back Chihiro dashed out of the door only to bump straight into the two girls who had been in the room mopping up the blood. They both blushed quickly to the fact that they had just been caught eavesdropping on the conversation between Yubaba and Chi.

"You don't remember, do you?" said one in a hushed voice.

Chihiro frowned, "Remember what?"

The two girls both looked at each other silently confirming something between them before turning back to Chihiro and smiling.

"Oh, nothing," said the other, "she's got the wrong person. I'll take you to a room like Yubaba instructed," she blushed again and lead the way to the lift doors.

Carefully looking at the first girl Chihiro reluctantly followed.

Her mind was buzzing. Remember what? Did they know her? She recognised these places, she had memories swimming around in her mind that she couldn't quite catch hold of. And then there was boy from her dreams and his connection with the young man under the blanket on the bottom floor.

And then a thought came to her. She let out a gasp and frowned in fright.

Had she…been here before?

* * *

A/N: Ok, I apologise once again. They didn't meet. But who knows? Maybe the next chapter? Stay tuned to find out! 

I got a little carried away with Yubaba's description but it was too fun! I actually wrote a little too much and had to delete some of it which was a shame but defiantly too carried away!

Hope you all enjoyed it, thankyou so much to all my reviews! You all rock! Plus you make me want to write more

**hands out cookies** Please review again! I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible :D


	9. Its you

**Chapter 9: Its you**

Tossing and turning Chihiro finally gave up on the ridiculous idea of getting to sleep. Not only was the bed, which consisted of a badly patched blanket on the cold wooden floor, a complete and utter pain in the back but the questions filling her mind buzzed so violently she wondered if there was an angry swarm of bee's stuck in there.

Pushing back the blanket with her bare, and rather cold, feet she gazed out at the sun which was another reason why sleep was so hard to come by. What sort of crazy people would sleep through the day and work through the night?

"Mad people," she mumbled as she pulled her clothes back on and frowned at the questions in her mind. It was so tempting to just scream at them to be quiet.

But they wouldn't. And then, above the buzzing noise of the countless questions about whether she had been here once before, came the image of the boy. The boy below the blankets and it screamed at her, it screamed above the noise of all the other questions and burned it's image onto the back of her eyes.

Frustration, anger, hope, anxiety, fear, happiness and sadness swamped her emotions all fighting to get first place, it was like a war going on in her body and each one was trying to make itself heard over the sound of the others. Competing for first place.

"Fine!" she shouted, "fine!"

And it stopped.

All of the commotion, all of the confusion. It all died down instantly. She had given in. It was time to find out what was going on. And as far as she was concerned, it all started with the messy haired boy on the bottom floor.

The door slide open with a noisy creak causing Chihiro to wince and hesitate momentarily as she remembered the people sleeping in the room next door just through the paper thin wall which separated them. And then there was the creaking of just about every floorboard she stepped on as she made her was down the corridor.

"Shut up floorboards," she scowled at the floor (A/N come on, everyone does it!) and threatened a finger at it as if it could understand.

But she needn't have worried for the bath house was sound asleep. It had been a long night and they had worked hard and now every member was curled up clutching hold of their blanket tightly.

The lift juddered down silently and Chihiro caught glimpses of the outside world. It was breathtaking in every way. The little shops which made up the village around the bath house, the curl of the railway as it wound it's way around the countryside and the bright yellow sun as it stood proudly in front of it all beaming down with gentle rays. The workers of the spirit house really missed out, thought Chihiro as she let a smile play on her lips.

And then the lift stopped with a gently "Flump". She had reached the bottom floor and it made her heart jump but quiver with excitement. She was going to solve it, solve the answer which had haunted her in the world she came from.

The doorways swayed past her as if she was in a dream, but she wasn't concentrating on them, only her final goal.

And then it was in front of her, the small slide door which would lead her to what she waited for for so long. Eyes gleaming with excitement, bones tingling with impatience, she slid the door open and ducked into the large boiler room.

Heat hit her, not over powerful heat but the gentle warming feeling which reminds one of sitting by a fire in the winter. The boiler man snored gently on his post, covered by a blanket which looked undoubtedly better quality than the rest of the workers. And then her eyes fell upon the pile of bed clothes which concealed her answer.

Moving forwards a hand gently rested on the soft material. She took in a deep breath and gently pulled the covers back…

But there was nothing there.

No messy black hair.

No boy.

Her heart sank drastically and desperation sank in. He had to be here, he was her answer!

"No!" she muttered, "no, please!" but no matter how much she searched through the bed clothes she could not find him.

Tears filled her frantic eyes as she suddenly felt hopeless and more alone than she had felt than she arrived in this god forsaken place.

"Why?" she cried as tears fell down her face. Cupping her hands over her face she dropped to the floor and shivered as a breeze disturbed the warmth of the room.

And then she paused. A breeze? And then it dawned on her, the door was open! The boy must have left that way!

Jumping up she ran in the direction of the door and whisked around the corner to gaze up at the staircase. The sunlight dazzled her momentarily but as it cleared she spotted someone opening the door at the top of the stairs.

"WAIT!" she screamed, and without thinking she ran at full speed up the staircase in front of her.

Thoughts that she could easily fall to her death by careless running did not even cross her mind, she had to catch up with him.

Flinging the door open at the top of the stairs she ran through the flower garden, stumbling over a few stray roots and slipping over the odd damp leaf which crossed her path.

Finally she burst through the door which led to the front of the bath house. And she came to a grinding halt.

There he was, the boy she had been searching for. Leaning on the bridge he stood gazing out at the scenery which begged to be looked at. His messy black hair fell over his face but it did not seem that he had noticed.

And then, unexpectedly, he turned and looked at the girl who stood there waiting for him.

Silence rang between them as they both stood there taking one another's appearance in. And then, slowly, they walked towards each other.

Excitement, anticipation, happiness and maybe even sadness glimmered in both of their faces.

"Its you."

* * *

A/N: Hehehe what a cliffie! Sorry bout the late upload, but better late than never eh? Ok I'll try update sooner next time. I know your probably all hating me so much right now. You all hated me for not making them meet and now your hating me for leaving it like that right? Well I couldn't possibly leave without having another cliffie hehe. Sorry!

Thank you so much for the reviews :D It's amazing to hear from you all and I loves you all! (even if you hate me)

Please read and review though because nothing is better than hearing yall hate me:D

hands out cookies enjoy!


	10. Remember

Chapter 10: Remember

"It's you!"

As far as either was concerned there was nothing around them, no breeze pulling at their hair, no sun tugging at their eyelids. It was just them and nothing else mattered. Eyes wildly ran over the other drinking in every last aspect of them from the scuff's in their shoes to the one stray hair which wouldn't stay where it was put.

Tears shone in their eyes with happiness as breathing grew faster with excitement.

"Chihiro! Chihiro it's really you! You're here!" breathed the boy moving closer looking more happy than he had ever done before in his life.

But Chihiro stopped, a frown creased her brow and slowly she took a step away. It almost looked as though she was…frightened.

"Ch…Chihiro?" panic filled Haku's face as the hand he had rested on her shoulder was shrugged off.

"How?" she whispered shaking her head, "How do you…know my name?"

Tears sprung down Haku's face as it dawned upon him. "No…no," he whispered, looking into her eyes in desperation.

"And what is this place? Why am I here?" Chihiro was getting hysterical, tears of sadness, fear and confusion drowned her face. "Who are you? WHY DO I KNOW YOU?" Panic stricken and afraid she sobbed desperately. It was supposed to work! She was supposed to see his face, meet him in person, and then everything would be fine and she'd know who he was and why she was here. But there was nothing! No explanation, no realisation, just nothingness. Except for that face, the one she knew, the one she met every night in her dreams, standing before her.

Giving in to her shaking knees she fell to the floor, hands covering her face as she shed her tears.

Haku knelt down beside her and touched her hair lightly.

"Hey, shhh," he said soothingly, "everything's going to be ok?"

Slowly, Chihiro lifted her head and looked, watery eyed, into the face she felt she knew. And then she flung herself forwards into his arms and buried her face into his shoulder. Haku paused for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in tightly.

And then he felt tears prick at his eyes again. For how long had he wished he could hold her? How long had he wanted to smell her hair, to see her face, to talk to her…to be with her. And here she was. But she wasn't the same, she was afraid and confused with no-one to care for her in a world she did not belong to. But worst of all, she had no memory of him or what happened all those years ago.

Could it be so easy to forget? Could she have let those memories, which he treasured so dearly, just slip between her fingers like grains of sand?

But she was there, crying in his arms. And then, slowly, his mind began to think. She had said, "it's you," when he first saw her. She _did _recognise him. She _knew_ him, but she couldn't remember. Then perhaps her thoughts were…erased?

And then Haku's face hardened, his teeth gritted and a frown grew in his eyes. Everything pointed to one thing, one person. Yubaba.

"Chihiro," he said soothingly, "you don't remember, do you?"

Sitting up she stared, again, into his eyes. Her face was a mess, puffy red eyes with streams of tears which had flowed out of her eyes and a rather unladylike runny nose.

"Remember what?" she whispered.

Haku sighed, his suspicions confirmed. "You were here, at the bathhouse, seven years ago."

Chihiro's eyes widened as she gulped down the new information. "I was…here?"

"You don't remember, do you?"

She shook her head sadly and whipped her face on a sleeve to try and clear herself up a bit.

"Here," Haku exclaimed reaching into a pocket and pulling out a handkerchief.

"Thanks," she said and wiped her eyes and nose on the white hanky before noticing the curly stitching written upon it in a deep blue thread. "Haku?" she read.

"That's me," he smiled, "no, no, you can hold onto it," he added as she attempted to give back the, what was once a clean, handkerchief.

A watery laugh cracked on her face and she stuffed it into her pocket with a mental note to clean it later.

"Tell me, please, about when I was here?" she pleaded.

"You stumbled through our doors seven years ago. You didn't know where you were or what you were doing here, much like you are now," Haku smiled, and then he told her the whole tale about how she worked at the bath house to save her parents from the slaughter but ended up saving not only them but him as well by giving him back his name.

She listened breathlessly as this tale unfolded in front of her and wondered wildly if she was to believe such a tale ever happened. But there were certain parts which seemed to stir something in her mind. Images of flying through the sky on the back of a dragon whispered to her, but she could no longer distinguish memories from dreams.

As Haku bought the tale to an end Chihiro sat holding on to his every word wishing for there to be more and wondering why, if this tale did once happen, she didn't stay in the spirit world with him and the others.

"If that's true," she said eventually after running the story through her head a few more times, "then why…why can't I remember any of it?"

Haku sighed and looked at the floor. He knew this question would come, but it was one he did not have an answer to, or not a full one.

"There is only one person who is strong enough to wipe somebody's memories from their body, and that is Yubaba."

"Yubaba? The woman I met earlier?" questioned Chihiro, "but…why? Why would she want to remove my memories?"

"I don't know," he said sadly while his mind raced as he tried desperately to figure it out, "but we're going to find out."

His eyes had shifted to the top floor of the bathhouse and a frown had creased, once again, over his eyes. How dare she, he thought, how dare she remove her memory! No wonder she didn't come back. It was all Yubaba's fault and he was going to make her pay no matter what.

"Come on," he said getting to his feet, "we're going to see her."

Using Haku's hand as a support Chihiro pulled herself up and wiped the grit off her legs where she had been sitting. She nodded to Haku. She was desperate to get her memories back, Yubaba had no right to steal them from her. It was all very well Haku telling her what had happened but he didn't know everything. She wanted to know her thoughts of everyone but more importantly, she wanted to remember her feelings towards Haku.

It was midday, or midnight according to how you looked at it. The bathhouse was asleep and it's workers were all dreaming of double pay and day's off, such pleasures that only lived in dreams. And somewhere, above all the peaceful sleeping, was a woman who had stolen the most important thing to one girl, her memories.

A/N: Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great new year and a wonderful Christmas (unless you don't celebrate it, in which case hope you had a great 25th December!)

Sorry about the late update but I've been busy with holiday things which needed to be celebrated. But seeing as I've started back at school again and have a pile of work that needs to be doing I thought I'd take the time to write another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it, I know it was a little short but it was either that or wait for another few weeks for it.

Thankyou so much to all my reviewers! You guys are fantastic! So please feel free to review again!


	11. The Missing Memories

**Chapter 11: The Missing Memories**

Gentle breathing could be heard from all the little compartments containing the bath house workers as Chihiro and Haku made their way towards Yubaba's quarters. Chihiro caught glimpses of them as she walked past, all of them wearing the same pinkish looking clothes, all of them lying on the floor, all of them worked to the bone. If she had ever worked there she wondered how she could have ever stayed alive. Back in the human world she was always so lazy! She would moan and groan about taking the twins out, she hated going to school and any form of physical activity was always looked upon with great disgust.

"What are you thinking about?" queried Haku who looked a little concerned.

Chihiro realised she had been wrinkling her nose and quickly covered it with her hand giggling slightly. "Oh I was just wondering how I managed to work in this place!"

Haku smiled, "you'd be surprised!" he laughed.

They entered a small, and rather dirty, lift that had no walls. Instead it just showed the wall behind it.

"Do any of your lifts have walls?" Chihiro wondered out loud as she ran a finger down the slimy inside of the brick wall.

"Not the staff ones," chuckled Haku as he took Chihiro's hand off the wall as they began to move. There was a moments silence as they both looked at their hands in each others and a second's awkwardness as they felt each other's heat through their palms.

The chuckle disappeared and Haku dropped her hand looking slightly embarrassed while Chihiro glanced away and blushed. It was good to be a teenager.

The lift juddered to a abrupt stop and made an awful squeaking noise which put Chi's teeth on edge. "That has got to take some getting used to," she sighed, breaking the dreaded silence that had surrounded them.

But it seemed to have worked and a smile spread across Haku's face lighting up his eyes, "Ladies first," he said letting Chihiro step out of the lift first.

They were back at the top of the bathhouse in that overly-perfumed, excessively decorated, hall. It was enough to give anyone a headache, everything was over done, over the top, and ugly to the normal eye. Evidently Yubaba must have the highest standards of showing off your riches that anyone could ever imagine.

"It's time to find out what's been going on I think," Haku said frowning again.

The door swung open without the slightest sign of a creak, Chihiro had the impression it had been greased with rubies and gold. Inside it was dark, no windows lay around the walls which implied a suffocating air upon anyone who walked down the corridor. But even though it was dark Chihiro could still sense, or rather feel, the rich decor which lay plastered to the walls around her. Quickening her pace she kept close to Haku's back, who seemed to know exactly where he was going.

They stopped outside a large door which seemed to have air seeping from the gap between it and the floor and the tiniest supply of daylight possible.

Haku pushed it open without a second thought and thundered into the room with a sudden rage which had been hidden until that moment. The daylight hit Chihiro's eyes harshly after being in such a dark room and it took her a moment to become adjusted to the sudden brightness around her.

But once her eyes had cleared she focused upon a giant teddy bear…with one eye missing. It shocked her so much she gasped and stepped backwards only to trip over a train the size of small table and stumbled straight into a pile of cushions which looked like a small mountain.

It took her a moment to get over her shock and realise that she was, in fact, in a child's room. A very large child's room where everything seemed to be doubled or tripled in size. After another moment, in which she pulled herself together again, she pushed the cushions that had fallen over her face onto the floor and stood up to get a better look at the room. The ceiling went on for miles and on the top of it were cherubs painted on little clouds. How cliché, she thought.

But her attention soon shifted back to Haku who was thundering on a door at the other side of the giant room.

"GET OUT HERE YUBABA, I WANT A WORD!" he shouted through the door angrily.

Feeling a little out of place, and certainly shocked that Haku was suddenly so angry, she fiddled a little with her fingers and wondered what to do. But soon enough the door was wrenched open from the other side and a sight hit her eyes that made her knees tremble with fear and her heart leap with fright.

Yubaba stood, both hands on the doors she had just opened, with a look of rage upon her face which reflected the hatred and anger of a thousand men at war. Her eyes had doubled in size and were glowing with fire and when she breathed out it almost looked like she was breathing it. Smoke and flames pierced the image of her anger and magnified it a thousand times.

But Haku, it seemed, had been expecting something along these lines to happen. No longer was he a boy but a dragon darting here and there in the huge room. Both of them looked such a terrible picture that Chihiro had to close her eyes for a moment.

Then Haku swung forwards, seeing his opportunity, and wrapped his slim body around the witch so tightly that he seemed to have her in a headlock. Slowly, and painfully, he tore her head so that her eyes fell upon Chihiro, who she had not yet noticed.

The fire died down, her eyes drizzled back to what they once were, and her face contorted with realisation to what Haku was trying to say. His grip released around her neck and he changed back to the boy standing in front of her.

There was silence as they both stared at each other. Haku's face was angry, Yubaba's almost…pleading?

"Sen…" whispered Yubaba.

"Chihiro," corrected Chi.

"You've got some explaining to do," growled Haku.

"Me?" Yubaba smirked, suddenly changing her tune.

"You," he spat. "You think it's ok do you? To go around erasing people's memories whenever you please? What good did you think it would do? Separate us both forever? Or perhaps you were worried that I would no longer be able to cope with my job if she came back? Is that it, worried you'd loose your precious money and jewels that your so proud of?"

Yubaba merely stood and listened to everything he was saying with no expression in her face whatsoever. Once he had finished his little rant, however, she let a smirk spread across her face. An evil smirk which could chill the bone of anyone who lay in her path.

"If I were you, Master Kohaku, I would hold your tongue. Apparently you think that just because you have recovered from your little mishap with the Great Water Spirit you can go around bossing whoever you like around. Well my news for you is that while you are under my roof I am the one who gives the orders and I shall do whatever I choose to do. And may I also remind you that you are engaged to your master spirit's daughter? Oh yes," she added, seeing Haku's disgust, "you will marry her."

Haku's face turned from rage to pure hatred.

Yubaba let out a cackle which could have been mistaken for a laugh but sounded far too evil to have such a name. "Yes, married." She seemed to be taking great pleasure in the whole situation.

Chihiro frowned looking from Haku's anger to Yubaba's ridicule. She packed up her fear and stepped forwards.

"Miss…Yubaba," she began awkwardly, "Haku may well be a worker here so maybe you can order him about a little but I would like to remind you that I am not. Well…not yet anyway," her nerves may well have been showing but she forced herself to continue regardless, "so maybe Haku asking you has angered you a little. But I think at least I have the right to know why you erased my memories."

There, she had said it.

Yubaba's attention shifted onto her and for the first time she saw into those evil piggy little eyes which seemed to be laughing at her cruelly.

"Yes," she cackled again, "yes I may have erased your memories. But perhaps there is something I should remind you of before you go pointing the accusing finger…"

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A/N: Woo another chapter up! I actually had quite a lot of fun writing this one, maybe it was because I had good music on or maybe it was just a fun chapter to write! Well anyway there it is! And you had all better tune in for what it is that Yubaba has to say! 

Yes I know, another cliffy! But I've got to leave you with something to make you want to read the next chapter haven't I? And that reference to Haku's marriage was just a reminder for you lot ;) Don't want you forgetting that part of the story!

Thank you so much to all my reviewers! The story would have never gotten this far if you hadn't reviewed. So please just hit that little button and write a review, whether it's good or bad or suggestions or anything I'd love to hear! >>hands out cookies to all reviewers and readers 


	12. Accused

**Chapter 12: Accused**

The three people stood in silence as the words Yubaba had spoken sunk in to the atmosphere and wrapped themselves around the minds of Haku and Chihiro.

"Remind me of?" Chihiro whispered trying desperately to remember.

Yubaba stood as one who had won a championship. Pure evil glistened in her eyes as though glazed with sticky toffee and already she seemed taller than anyone in the room. And then there was that smile, no…not a smile. It was a sneer escaping from between her rotting teeth and mouldy lips and it spoke volumes as to who was leading this conversation.

"Perhaps, my _dear_," she added with a nasty smirk, "I should show you something which I believe belongs to you." And with that she turned upon her heel, showing her large, jewel encrusted, behind, and strode from the room into her office which lay across the hall.

Chihiro glanced at Haku, who seemed frozen in thought, before following that wicked, loathsome woman into her office.

She was shuffling around in a draw which seemed to be bottomless. The old hag was leaning right into the tiny draw and yet it did not bulge or creak or show any signs of her popping out of the bottom. It was almost like magic, in fact, Chihiro thought, it probably was.

Finally she seemed satisfied and, pulling herself upright, she produced a single sheet of paper which looked years old. Brushing herself down a little to smooth out the creases and absent mindedly picking at some black object which had gotten itself tangled in her clothes, Yubaba's sneer increased as a flame flickered somewhere in her eye.

"This," she ridiculed as she blew a storm of dust from it's surface, "is yours." And with that she placed the sheet in Chihiro's open hands and stepped back to wait like a bird on it's prey.

A noise behind her signified Haku's arrival but she was no longer too concerned as to what was happening in the room. Slowly she let her eyes move down to the paper in front of her as she read.

Silence once again suffocated the room as the tension grew to an unbearable climax. Both Haku and Yubaba watched Chihiro's expression as she read, both hanging onto her every thought as though possessed. Slowly they watched her eyes grow further down the page. They both stood there as they watched her face turn from shock, to anger, from anger to disbelief, from disbelief to heartbreak. Tears filled her perfect eyes but there was still more to read, more to come. Eyes read further and Haku watched, fears growing, as Chihiro began to shake her head, the tears now uncontrollably pouring down her face. Finally she reached the untidy scrawl signed upon the bottom of the page and her hand shot to her mouth as agonizing sobs escaped her throat in despair and disbelief to what she had just read. But there it was, in black and white, and not even a Yubaba could change it.

Tearing her head away from the paper she looked weakly at Yubaba whose eyes were alight with enjoyment at seeing this girl pour her heart and soul out in front of her.

"It's not true," she whispered shaking her head, "please….just tell me it's not true."

"Oh it's true alright, I remember the day well and how happy I was when it was over. Yes I don't think I've laughed so hard in a good while," Yubaba cackled spitefully as she played with that sneer on her lips once more.

Chihiro's eyes closed as she re-read the information in her mind over and over again, but there was no escaping it. She could feel Haku's eyes burning into the back of her head but she could not bear to look at him. How could she meet those eyes again?

"Tell me," he murmured in a pleading voice. But Chihiro could not.

But Yubaba could. Oh it was all a good game to her and she was not going to let it end unless she had had the utmost satisfaction from it.

"Well it seems," she said, putting on a sickly sweet tone of voice to taunt him with, "that, by absolutely no fault of my own, and of course beyond my better judgement, well it would seem that it was in fact our dear, dearest Chihiro here, who demanded her memories removed from her in the first place. So much so, in fact, that she went to the great detail of drawing up a contract proving that I could perform such a task and that she had authorised it. So it would also seem that you owe me an apology, after all I was only going with the child's wishes."

Her horrible, spiteful speech ended cruelly. Every word had chiselled its way into them, etched the words upon their very hearts so that they might never forget. Her sickeningly soft voice had made the pain even more unbearable. It had soaked its way into the very mainstream of their blood and to the heart of their bones so they both felt dirty to the core.

Haku blinked in mistrust and gazed at Chihiro, who could still not meet his gaze.

"It's not true!" he shouted eventually, "she wouldn't…she…wouldn't." It had started as a shout but had weaselled into a whine of hope.

Striding forwards he snatched the paper out of Chihiro's trembling hands and gazed down at the paper he dreaded to read.

_I herby entitle the owner of the Bathhouse, Yubaba, to remove every memory of my dealings with the spirit world. Every thought, every feeling, any recollection must be erased as though it had never been there._

_Signed,_

_Chihiro, Sen_

It was as simple as that. She'd signed it away, all of it. Everything he had lived his whole life for since she left, every day he had spent thinking of her and wishing beyond hope that she would return to him…and she had dismissed him years ago without him even being informed. And all that happiness he had felt when he finally saw her again…it had all been…fake.

Yubaba let out another sneer from the corner of the room, but she had gone too far and now even she was noticing the atmosphere surrounding her. It nibbled at her wrinkled skin like a mouse caged. And even Yubaba would have admitted how terrible it felt. But she was the master of the bathhouse, she loved to watch people writhe in fear and sob with despair. She had a reputation to keep up and she was not about to dismiss it.

"Now I am bored with you both, so get out of my sight. Oh and Chihiro?" she stated, "you start work tomorrow, if I hear any bad complaints about you, even one, then you can forget about me ever opening the door for you."

And with that she left the room leaving the two teenagers alone.

Haku stared at the floor with a hard look. A mixture of feelings flooded through his body like a mine stream. Anger, hatred, disbelief, sadness, disappointment, frustrated and annoyed. The mixture was not good for his body, he wanted to scream and let it all out, he wanted to hit something hard, he wanted to die.

Chihiro, meanwhile, stood with tears streaming out of her eyes. Why? Why would she do that? It meant that something must have happened, something which caused her to willingly sign away her memories. But what? She knew she loved this boy, she felt it every time she saw him in her dreams, she touched it every time she looked at him, she experienced it every time she heard his name or he ran through her mind. What could be so important that she had to wipe away? It was all too much, she wanted to scream so hard her lungs hurt.

But still neither of them looked at each other. Neither of them could bring themselves to look at the other. And yet the tension continued to grow until it was screaming in their ears.

It was time to leave.

Haku ran forwards to the only escape he could think of, the window. Thrusting it open he launched himself out of it and turned into the slender dragon which glistened across the sky.

Chihiro watched through teary eyes before running out the door. She had to escape, she had to get out of here. She wanted to go home but… she still wanted Haku.

* * *

A/N: Ok so not a very good ending to that chappie but I couldn't think of another way they could leave the room. Oh well I hope you liked it!

Eek Chihiro signing away her own memories! How cruel am I?

Thankyou so much for all the reviews! It's so great that you like it! Please review again and feel free to take a cookie! I baked them especially :D


	13. The Guests

**Chapter 13: The Guests**

A week had passed since Chihiro had found out that it was her own fault her memories had been erased. The minutes had snailed there way pass almost as though they were etching their way into her skin to remind her how long it had been since she last smiled. True to Yubaba's word Chihiro had started her work the day after and for fear of never getting home she had been obliged to subject herself to every task she was set. Cleaning out the baths day and night, scraping floors of slime and grit, scrubbing clothes that were so drenched in filth any normal person would have thrown them away, she'd cleaned out the pigs pens countless times, picked at dying plants and flowers in the fields and even washed the grit from a guest's toenails. Every task that would have normally been forgotten about or ignored was given to Chihiro. Yubaba was in her element and enjoyed nothing more than watching the poor girl, with eyes full of tears, work her fingers to the bone until she collapsed in a heap upon the floor.

The other staff, however, pitied the poor girl. Since the incident between Yubaba, Haku and Chihiro word had spread like the plague until everyone in the bathhouse knew what had happened. Some of them blamed Chihiro for signing away her own memories where as others decided there was no way a girl who was once so friendly could have possibly done such a thing, especially when they knew how much she loved Haku, and that someone else must have forced her into it. Either way everyone treated her with kindness if only because she was being worked to the bone and they pitied her.

But Chihiro no longer cared. She was dead inside. For all this time she had laid all hope on the boy in her dreams and now there was nothing. She had achieved nothing coming to this terrible land but instead lost everything. Now the only hope was going home and hopefully being allowed to die in a corner somewhere where she could forget everything. Every day she did her duties, every day she worked until she could no longer stand, and everyday she cried herself to sleep as she wished endlessly she had never walked through the door. Haku had not been seen since it happened.

Night drew closer and one by one the workers opened their bleary eyes, yawned and stretched, and pulled on that same dreary pink uniform they were forced to wear every day. Lin yawned noisily and threw a pillow at Chihiro who had only been sleeping for a few hours.

"Wake up sleepy head!" she sighed as the girl emerged messy haired from her bed clothes.

As always Lin ignored the tear stained face and swallowed the pity that made her want to reach out and pull the girl into a hug. She had learned on the second day that this would only make her worse.

Suddenly a sharp tapping sounded on the door which was already slid half way open and a stoutly looking toad appeared holding a sheet of paper.

"Letter for Sen?" he exclaimed before handing the paper to Chihiro and disappearing again.

Chihiro silently gazed down at the paper and sighed as she read the tiny scrawl which she recognised instantly to be Yubaba's handwriting.

_8pm, get on your smartest uniform and greet our prestigious guests in the entrance hall. Bring them up to my office at once. Best Behaviour or else._

Worry and confusement flashed across Chihiro's face as she wondered why she could ever be trusted with such important guests but that was soon pushed out of her mind as Lin grabbed her in a headlock and scrubbed a damp old rag across her face.

"What are you doing!" spluttered Chihiro from under the cloth while frantically trying to escape.

"You have to look your best and you have five minutes until 8pm!" said Lin who had been reading over her shoulder.

"…damn!" shouted Chihiro as she threw her best uniform on and sprinted out of the door calling her thanks to Lin over her shoulder.

As she paced her way down the stairs and frantically tied up her hair she tried desperately to push her thoughts away from her and forced herself to think of happier things. Like how pretty the sun is and how blue the sky was during the day.

Puffing and panting she skidded to a halt in the entrance hall and clutched at her side as the stitch within it pounded against her ribs. Her cheeks were flushed with a colour that they hadn't seen for a week but she had made it, it was ten seconds until 8pm. And anyway, who is ever on time these days?

Leaning on the counter beside her she took a moment to regain her breath and concentrate once more on the colour of the sky as her troubles tried to seep back into her mind.

The clock outside struck the sound for 8 o'clock and a cool breeze wafted through the door as two people entered. Chihiro stood bolt upright and forced a smile at the guests she had been ordered to meet. They were dead on time.

There were only two of them, a man and a girl, but Chihiro could sense they were powerful spirits and felt herself tremble slightly as they gazed at her. The man was plain looking but had a fire in his eyes which showed his power and behind him stood a girl, who could not have been any older than Chihiro. But her beauty filled the room with a gentle atmosphere which seemed to sooth the air around her. Her hair swayed gently as though caught in some imaginary breeze and it glowed a bright sandy coloured blond as it fell gracefully around her shoulders. Her face was as perfect as a doll and as beautiful as an angel and her petite figure gave her a delicate image of innocence and purity. She could have almost been mistaken for an angel and it made Chihiro feel dirty, as though she was the ugliest thing on the planet compared to this girl.

"We have come to see Yubaba," stated the man in an orderly tone of voice as he stared at Chihiro looking at the girl behind him.

"Certainly sir," she whispered, "if you'd like to follow me," and she lead the way to Yubaba's office on the top floor.

The journey up there seemed to take an age, it was as though she could feel the two guests staring at her through the back of her head, she felt like she could hear them saying how ugly she was compared to the beautiful girl.

But finally the ping of the elevator told her she had reached Yubaba's office and stepping out she allowed her guests to follow her through to the door which took them to Yubaba herself.

"Ah!" she exclaimed politely as she stood up from behind her desk to greet her guests, "It is a great honour to meet you again Great Water Spirit," she said in her most sucking up tone of voice, "and to finally meet you," she added to the girl with him.

"This is my daughter Rin," he said smiling as he introduced the pride of his life to the hideous witch before him.

Rin smiled and nodded politely to Yubaba and as she smiled it showed more beauty than before, if that was possible.

"Haku will be lucky to have you as a wife," Yubaba smirked as her eyes flickered to Chihiro who she had 'accidentally' forgotten to dismiss.

Chihiro's insides squirmed as her eyes fell on the girl before her. This girl? This was the girl who was to marry Haku? She could feel her eyes fill with tears and a lump develop in her throat. She couldn't bear to be in the room any more, to look at the beautiful girl who would soon be wrapped in the arms of the man she still loved or to glance at the evil smirk that Yubaba was flashing at her across the room.

It was all making sense as to why she had been chosen to escort the guests. Yubaba had just wanted to rub it in her face that Haku would soon be married and to dampen her thoughts further than they already were. But still she stood in the room, clenching her teeth together in an attempt to stop herself from crying as she waited to be dismissed.

"My oh my," toyed Yubaba as she stared at Chihiro, "I seem to have forgotten to dismiss the worker."

The Great Water Spirit and his daughter turned to look at the girl who's face was a distorted image of pain and torment. Rin immediately looked worried for the girl who stood before her. Great, thought Chihiro, not only is she pretty but she has a heart of gold too.

"You may leave," mumbled Yubaba who realised that if she kept the girl here any longer it would upset her guests. The spite could be heard in her voice as she disappointed that Chihiro had not broken down before them and she turned her back on the girl and back to her guests who greeted her presence with a smile.

Chihiro bowed to the guests but as she did so she felt a tear trickle from her eye and sprinted out of the door before the floods erupted and threatened to drown her once again.

She flattened herself against the wall outside the room and breathed deeply convincing herself that she would not cry. Squeezing her eyes together and covering her eyes with her hands she willed the tears away and told herself that she had cried enough for the last few weeks. Now was a time for action. Either she would keep her head down and work for her freedom back to her own world, or she would fight for the man she loved even if it was a lost cause.

But as she stood, flattened against the wall, she began to hear the voices from inside the room…

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A/N: Ok it's been ages since I updated and I apologise! It's all a matter of juggling my social life and my coursework at the moment and it's proving a hard challenge! But here it is, chapter 13. Hope you enjoyed it, I'll try and get 14 up sooner!

Thankyou so much to all my reviewers! I know your all a bit upset that I made Chihiro sign away her memories and I've had to employ a few body guards to stop the flame throwers and grenades hunting me down but I promise the story will get better! And I know there was nothing about Haku in this chappie but I'm sure he'll be in the next one, we'll just have to wait and see won't we?

Keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep writing!


	14. Sacked

Chapter 14: Sacked

"And where exactly is the Water Spirit Haku?" Chihiro heard as she stood outside the door.

"Well…" trailed off the voice of Yubaba.

Silently Chihiro shifted so that she could peek through the crack in the slightly open doorway and cast her eyes on the party inside.

Yubaba was stood by her desk looking slightly worried, The Great Water Spirit stood before her with eyes which flickered in the candlelight from the table and his daughter silently watched the stars outside.

"…Haku is not currently in the Bath House, he had to travel to visit his…sick friend," Yubaba finally concocted. The Water Spirit did not look convinced.

"If you will excuse me," came a soft voice from the window, "but I should very much like to meet this Haku before I am to marry him."

Chihiro could almost feel the tension grow as the girl's father cast an angry eye upon his daughter. She seemed to sink in his presence and turned a sad eye to the outside world again as if he had already declared that such a ridiculous request even be taken into consideration.

"I am sure you will find that Haku will make a pleasant husband," came an assuring voice from Yubaba which sounded fake in every possible way.

Chihiro had had enough. Silently she turned and crept down the corridor until she was out of Yubaba's ghastly lair and away from that girl and her father. All she wanted to do was to run out of the building and leave forever. She wanted to return to her world, to her mum and the triplets and forget this place forever. But there was no way out.

Lin's smile greeted her as she entered the baths to begin the job which was forced upon her. Her uniform was rolled up to her knees and beyond her elbows as she poured a bucket of a sweet smelling hot liquid over the guest she was currently attending to.

"Chihiro, be a dear and scrub this man's back will ya?" she asked in a loud voice as she tried to make herself heard over the guest's moans of pleasure in the hot water.

Chihiro smiled a little as she decided to push the troubles out of her mind until later when she could do something about it. If she could have she would have laughed at the scene before her. The guest, an elderly spirit who was lying deeply within the luxurious water surrounding him, was not ashamed to show his pleasure as he let deep groans of immense pleasure rumble from deep within his throat and poor Lin who was desperately trying to make herself heard over his sigh's and trying not to laugh all the while.

Picking up the nearest scrubbing brush Chi dipped it into the soothing water and began scrubbing the man's back, which proved to add to his current pleasure as another deep moan emitted his body.

Lin could not hold it in anymore and let a snort of laughter roll out of her mouth which she tried desperately to cover with a soggy hand. But she needed have worried for the guest was being so loud he completely missed it.

"He's been like this for ages now!" she gigged to Chi, "he refuses to get out and I keep having to top up with hot water to make sure it doesn't go cold!"

Chihiro smiled at Lin's delight as she scrubbed harder on the man's back and even let out a small giggle as she watched the man's face relax further into pleasure.

"So what was your little job about this morning?" asked Lin eventually.

"Oh…nothing really," Chihiro decided on, "you know what Yubaba is like."

Lin frowned slightly but let it pass and began another conversation about how the pink uniforms were completely useless as she resorted to pinning them up around her knees again after they had fallen down for the fourth time.

51 pleasuring groans, 46 back scrubs, 14 hot water top up's and 3 hours later the guest finally decided that his skin was wrinkly enough and he finally got out of the bath and, after thanking Chi and Lin with a few gold pieces as tip, he made his way out of the bath house.

As the two girls washed away the last of the grime in the bottom of the bath tub Yubaba approached them again with her smug face in place as usual.

"A word please, Sen."

Chi rolled her eyes at Lin and climbed her way out of the bath tub and dripped her way over to her boss.

"So you met Haku's bride to be?" she smirked evilly as though to remind her of what she had seen that morning, "Yes, Rin is a lovely girl. Any man would be lucky to have her as a wife."

"She is very pretty," Chihiro smiled as she hid her anger to this foul woman.

"She does no other girl any justice in their features."

"Did you want me for something? Or was it just to admit that you are just as ugly as the rest of us?" Chi sneered. She knew she should not have said it but it was just too hard not to.

Instantly Yubaba's smirk transformed into a scowl. "How dare you say a thing like that to your boss!" she shouted.

"What are you going to do? Give me all the worst jobs in the building? Oh no wait, you've already done that!" spat Chihiro, she knew she shouldn't but it just felt so good to let out some of her anger to the woman who had caused her grief since she was 12 years old.

"I would advise you to keep your mouth shut!" angered Yubaba.

"Really? That's what you want is it? Well in my world there is such a thing as freedom of speech! Since I was 12 years old you've ruined my life, all the nightmares, all the images in my head, they were all because you. You and your stuck up ways! You think your so much better than anyone else but if you took a moment to get to know the employees in your bath house you'd realise that not everyone is as evil as you are. Not everyone is as ugly as you and there is no one with as worse a dress sense or taste in vulgar over-dressed rooms in either the spirit or the human world!" The words shook out of her mouth as she yelled them at the woman before her and if she could have looked around her she would have seen a hundred faces of bath house workers stood around her with a jealously for her bravery to speak in such a way to Yubaba in their eyes.

"Get out," whispered Yubaba through clenched teeth, "get out of my bath house."

"Oh don't worry, I wouldn't stay here another hour if you paid me," shook Chi and she spun on her heel and strided out of the building.

"And don't ever think you'll get back to the human world, your stuck here forever!" shouted Yubaba after her.

Chihiro's footsteps turned into a run as she weaved her way between the workers who looked stunned at the girl who had finally stood up to their evil master. As she ran out of the door she heard a sudden burst of applause follow her as the workers jolted out of their stunned shock.

But she did not turn to look, she just kept running. Out and over the bridge weaving her way through the guests who were either arriving or leaving, she did not care which. Sprinting her way through the crowded shops she heard her belly rumble and plead with her to eat some of the sweet smelling food within, but she kept on running.

Down the steps she almost felt herself trip and slowed a little feeling exhausted from within. She had done it, she'd left the place that had bought her the nightmares. But the realisation of what she had done was finally beginning to dawn on her and Yubaba's last words, "don't ever think you'll get back to the human world" , rang in her ears.

* * *

A/N: I know it was short and very late but it eventually arrived right? Going through a busy time at the moment what with exams and all that but now that I'm on study leave I will hopefully find some time to write!

Please R&R, feel free to moan at me for being a slow and very late writer .

But because it was so late you all get double helping of cookies! **hands out the cookies**


	15. By the Door

Chapter 15: By the door

The darkness shrunk away with the night to be replaced the heat and sun which the spirit world were so against. One by one the guests made their way out of the bath house and shuffled across the bridge and down the stairs to make their way back to wherever they came from. The lights in the food stands went out one by one as if being puffed out by some imaginary breath and the streets emptied in wait for the next night.

And all the while no one noticed the figure of a young girl as she sat crouched in the corner waiting for the light she held so dearly.

Quietly Chihiro sat picking at the dirt on her bare feet as she wondered just how she would get her clothes back from within the bath house. Maybe she was wrong to stand up to Yubaba like that, after all it cannot do to have a witch as you enemy. But reminding herself that her and Yubaba were never that close anyway she decided that it wouldn't make the blind bit of difference, at least nothing that would affect her any time soon.

Soon the sun was shining brightly in the sky and as she gazed upon it's beauty she began to wonder where Haku had gone. She knew there was probably no point in seeing him again, it would only make maters worse, but she longed for it. If only there was something she could say…if only she could wrap her arms around him and sink into his shoulder.

But what she was wishing for was hopeless. He was to be married to the most beautiful spirit she had ever laid eyes on and as soon as he saw her beauty he would forget all about Chihiro and what they once had.

The streets were now completely empty and the spirit world felt at peace once again for all the troubles within it were fast asleep and tucked up in nice warm beds. Standing up Chihiro wandered through the deserted town with only one intention, to go to the door to the human world in some hope that it would be open so she could go home.

The meadow was there as it always was during the day and the soft summer breeze, which always seemed present, swept the long grass to and fro like a child playing catch with itself. She breathed in the smell of the heather which lay in patches around her feet and gasped as the breeze tugged upon her clothes and hair throwing it around wanting her to join in the game. Failing to tidy her messy hair with an unenthusiastic flick of the wrist she gave up and let the breeze win allowing it to flitter around her shoulders.

It was a pleasant walk through the meadow and Chihiro almost forgot for a moment where she was. Everything was so peaceful during the day and so beautiful that had someone have asked her she would have wondered whether Yubaba and the bath house had all been some horrible nightmare. But her peace was short lived and it all came rushing back to her with a bump as she spotted the old, flaking building which contained the door to the human world.

But as peace passed her it was only to be replaced by shock. For there, crouched in front of the large crusty door, was a boy. Chihiro stopped dead in her tracks as she squinted through the tufts of hair whipping in front of her face to make out the messy black hair and handsome figure of Haku.

Her heart began to beat faster and she could feel the tingle of excitement and dread shudder throughout her body. What should she do? Walk away and pretend not to have noticed him or confront him?

But she found that her feet had already decided for her as she began walking towards him. He didn't move, even when her feet could be heard brushing through the long grass. His eyes were fixated upon the door but she was sure that he knew she was there.

Smoothing the crumples out of the back of her pink uniform she sat down next to him and stared at the door. For a long time they both just sat there in silence letting the wind play with their hair and staring at the flaking door.

Finally someone spoke. And it was not Chihiro, but Haku.

"I waited for you. For years I waited. Longing for you to come back to me through that door and you never showed, not once."

Still they both stared at the door, as if memorised by it. The door which had changed both of their lives forever.

"Haku…I don't know what to say," whispered Chihiro who could feel tears biting the back of her eyes. She blinked them back and stole a glance at Haku.

His gaze had fallen to a point between his feet, his face seemed one torn between heartbreak and despair.

"They're not all gone," she said looking back at the door. From the corner of her eye she saw Haku steal a confused glace at her.

"The memories, they're not all gone," she finished. "Since I was eleven I've been having these…dreams. One dream. The same one dream every night."

"A dream about what?" Haku asked.

Chihiro turned to lock her eyes with his for the first time in days, "A dream about you."

Silence hit the couple again and their heads turned slowly back to the chipped door.

After a while Chihiro let out the sigh she had been holding in, "Why do you think I came back? This place was haunting me even though I'd had my memories removed. What if they hadn't been removed? How much would it have killed me to live weeks and months, all those years, in a world which doesn't contain you?"

She had blurted it out accidentally. It was a question her head was desperate to ask herself but had been suppressed by all the other commotion which was going on. And now it had been said not only to her but to Haku himself.

She felt her cheeks blush a burst of red and her body tremor as she saw Haku's head whip round to face hers. Not bearing to look at him she stared hard at the floor avoiding those eyes.

"What?" he whispered.

The tears were biting at the back of her eyes again and this time she let them out.

"What do you want me to say Haku?" she cried, "For all I know my life is running smoothly and then suddenly I get these dreams about a boy who changes into a dragon and for some reason I have these feelings which came from nowhere. And I know, for no apparent reason, that I love him. With all my heart."

Turning her tear stained face towards the man she loved she stared into his green eyes and for a moment they both sat there, entwined into each others vision.

But it was over before it even began and Haku broke the gaze by turning his vision back to the door.

The tears slowed silently down as Chihiro admitted defeat. He had chosen to leave her. She had hurt him so badly that it was over. Over before it even began.

"I've met her, your future wife. She's beautiful Haku, really wonderful. I know she will make you happy," she whispered as she stood up.

Smoothing down her clothes again, as if it were some mechanism, she began to walk away but stopped to turn and take one last look at the man who had turned her world upside down and shaken it from top to toe.

But he did not turn to meet her gaze.

* * *

A/N: I feel so mean. And mean again for the late update! But now all my exams are over (which I am assured to fail them all) which means I will hopefully have more time to write!

Don't worry that isn't the end of the story so please stay tuned for the next chapter (which will hopefully be a little longer)

Please review and tell me what you think! Thankyou!


	16. Onto the Train

Chapter 16: Onto the train.

Slowly Chihiro walked away from the door to the human world and away from the man she loved. With every step she could feel her heart sinking lower and lower in her body until she thought that maybe it had fallen out from the bottom of her shoe and broken into a thousand pieces on the soft muddy ground beneath. It felt to her as though the whole world had come to an end, she was far from home with no way of getting back in a place which seemed against her very soul and her only love had given up on her.

She did not know where she was going for she did not know where there was to go to. There was no way she could return to the bath house whose owner most probably wanted to watch her die a slow and painful death. There was no one she could turn to and ask for help from in her time of need. And there was no one to hold her as she cried into their shoulder. She was quite alone in a world that wasn't hers.

A cool breeze swept across her face and gently pulled at her hair and suddenly she could hear a soft sound of an engine somewhere in the distance. Looking up she noticed where her feet had been leading her and it seemed to be some sort of train station. It was nothing like the ones back in her world for there were no ticket sales posts, no little shops selling coffee and muffins. In fact there weren't even any people on it, it was just a raised platform next to a train line. She turned her head and saw in the distance a small red train puffing its way gradually down the track and something sparked somewhere in the back of her memories. Had she been here before? Screwing up her eyes she willed herself to remember and for a fleeting second the image of a darkened wood and a lamppost filled her mind and vanished.

Making up her mind she darted across the train tracks and up onto the small platform waiting for the train to arrive. If she had been here before then there must have been a reason for it and even if none of it was true then at least it was somewhere to go. The train pulled up into the station and nervously she stepped onboard. The dark outline of a man approached her and held out a calloused hand.

"Tickets please," he asked in a gruff voice.

"Uh…well…I don't have…" she began while wringing her hands in her pockets. But something smooth gently rubbed itself across her fingers and pulling it out she saw a small lump of gold which the old spirit in the bath house had given her as a tip. Funny, she thought, that all seems so far away now.

She handed the gold to the ticket man and watched as he ran his fingers over it trying to decide whether it was real gold and whether to accept it. Finally he seemed satisfied and nodded towards a vacant seat.

Slowly she lowered herself onto the seat and felt it compress under her light weight and give out a small squeak as the springs shifted. The train jerked violently and began moving again, chugging its way along the line towards a destination that Chi did not know.

She watched out the window as the landscape changed from rippling meadows to dewy green hills with the snowy peaks of mountains in the distance. Her mind began to wander and soon she was thinking of her home back in the human world. Would anyone have noticed that she had gone? Perhaps the police had been called and everyone was searching frantically for her believing her lost or maybe even dead. Would her parents have given up on her ever returning? But then another image flashed into her mind, a gruesome and evil image; that of her mother and father sitting around the dining table with the twins, all of them laughing over some joke which had been said. And the empty place where Chihiro would have sat was not even made and the chair had been taken away. As if she had never existed.

"No!" she whispered to herself. This was silly thought! They would never just forget about her, they would never just carry on life as normal without her. It was just her mind playing tricks.

The breaks screeched the train to a grinding halt as they pulled up into a dark station. It was surrounded by trees which blocked the sunlight out from the forest floor. The ticket master grunted towards Chihiro and nodded towards the door. Her fair had ran out, it was the end of the line for her.

Quickly she jumped up and hopped off of the train onto another raised platform and shivered as the cool air from the shade of the trees brushed against her arms and legs and squeezed their way through the thin pink uniform. She had nothing to pull around her for warmth and now that she had got off the train she was dearly wishing that she had managed to stay on. This place seemed to chill her very soul, or what was left of it. The thoughts of Haku and her lost life were put aside in her mind for a moment as she wondered what on earth she had gotten herself into.

Well there was no point just standing around, she thought, and carefully she began to make her way into the trees. There seemed to be a small path winding it's way into the trees before her so she timidly stepped onto it and allowed her mind to cast back once more to the thoughts of her lost Haku.

Suddenly a light appeared a little way ahead of her startling her out of her trance. It seemed to be a lamppost, but why a lamppost was stationed in the middle of nowhere was beyond her. Making up her mind, mainly because she had nothing else to do, she made her way towards it and stepped into the pool of light it emitted. Strangely the light bought an odd warmth to her skin reminding her momentarily of a warm and safe bed.

Her ears pricked up to a creaking sound somewhere ahead of her which made her freeze on the spot. What if there were bears in this wood much like the one she had once described to her sisters? Absurd, of course, but when you are in a dark place with a head full of misery and a strange lamppost sitting in the middle of nowhere your head begins to believe that even the most craziest things can be true. Maybe if she went back to the train station she could barter her way back to the bathhouse and beg Yubaba to take her back. She turned on her heel and left the pool of light.

Two steps later, however, she stopped and froze on the spot as a small "peep" sounded from behind her. Frowning slightly she glanced over her shoulder to see what had produced the strange sound. But there was nothing to be seen but the path and lamppost. Again she turned but as soon as she did so she heard the same "peep" from behind her. She whirled around but again it was only her and the lamppost.

"Is that you making that noise?" she asked fearfully whilst also making a mental note to herself that she was going crazy trying to talk to a lamppost.

"Peep" replied the lamppost.

Chihiro stopped, stunned. Either it was squeaking in some invisible breeze or…that lamppost just peep'd at her. And then….the lamppost jumped right in front of onto the path.

Chihiro took a step backwards in fright and waited.

"Peep!" the lamppost squeaked, a little more urgently.

"Uh…" replied Chi in shock.

The lamppost turned and began to jump it's way down the path occasionally stopping to turn and 'peep' at Chihiro.

She got the message and, thinking herself either crazy or mad, followed the lamppost down the path.

The path was very uneven and often she found herself slipping on the damp leaves or tripping over root ends or sticks left in the way. The lamppost travelled fast so she had to jog to keep up with it. Eventually the trees began to thin out and soon she could see a small cottage ahead of her with a slow plume of smoke drifting out of the chimney. It looked picturesque with it's low thatched roof and brightly colored flowers popping out on the flowerbeds in front of it and on the windowsills.

The lamppost coiled itself onto the archway gate and Chihiro pushed it open with a low creak. She was in wonder how such a beautiful little cottage could exist in a world which she had observed as being so cold and cruel and whose only beauty was that which nature could bring.

Bringing herself up against the old oak door she pulled on the knocker three times and waited to see who could be inside. She had no idea why she was here and not a clue of what to say to whoever opened the door but somehow she figured that it was the right place to be.

Eventually something behind the door shuffled about and the door swept back on it's hinges revealing it's inhabitant.

Chihiro gasped and almost fell backwards as her eyes lay upon a face she knew very well...


	17. Frantic Searching

Chapter 17: Frantic Searching

Haku sat transfixed upon the door as he heard Chihiro's steps vanishing into the distance. Part of him wanted to jump up and run after her, to hold her close in his arms and run his fingers through that soft hair of hers. But the other part of him wanted her to disappear forever so that she could realize what it was like to be in so much pain and hurting as much as he was now. Finally the sound of her footsteps had vanished and immediately he wished that the softer part of his conscious had won. They rushed over him cleansing his soul obliterating his evil thoughts. How awful must she be feeling right now? She was alone in a world she did not know with these feelings that she could not comprehend.

Quickly he rushed onto his feet and span around frantically searching the horizon for the any wisp of her brown hair. But she had gone.

"Chihiro?" he called, "CHIHIRO??" straining his ears he listened for a reply, anything which might signal where she was. But all he could hear was the breeze rushing through the long grass which surrounded him. He ran forwards in the direction she had left wondering where she had gone to and what could be going through her mind. He could never forgive himself is she was now feeling any of the emotions he had previously felt, especially if that feeling was hatred towards him. Because even though she had signed her own memories away, even if she had left the spirit world not wanting to know who he was…he still felt a burning desire to be with her. He wanted to make her happy and see her smile and hold her in his arms until everything was perfect again. He loved her.

Swiftly he turned into his dragon form and took to the skies. His eyes restlessly scanning the layout below him taking in everything and trying desperately to see even the smallest sign of where she had gone. But he could see nothing except the vicious landscape below. For nothing could be beautiful unless she was in it.

And then logic swept into his mind, she must have gone back to bath house. It was the only place she knew, it was the only place she could turn to. Making a violent turn to face the wind he flew towards the red dot on the horizon which was the bathhouse. His feet thudded onto the wooden bridge as he landed without much grace turning quickly back into the dark haired boy, he was in too much of a rush for pleasantries. He made up his mind that as soon as he saw her he would swoop her up into his arms and apologize for his behavior and swear to help her find the answers to her missing memories. He scuttled across the bridge's smooth surface as his hair swept across face and gently billowed behind him, his green eyes determined on the goal.

There were not many workers around as it was early morning and most of them had gone off to bed to rest their wearied bodies before another night of work. Haku ran in the direction of Chihiro's room and wrenched the door open in one swift movement. His eyes scanned the floor and sleeping bodies until they lay upon the empty space which Chihiro would have occupied.

"Lin?" he shouted, "Where is Chihiro??"

Lin, who had had an extremely tiresome night having to do the work of two all by herself since Yubaba sacked Chi, groggily sat up in her bed and wiped the sleep out of her eyes before allowing them to rest upon the rude newcomer who had entered the room and woken her so abruptly.

It took her a few moment to take in the sight of Haku who stood before her but when she had finally acknowledged it was he her face changed into one of complete shock and utmost interest. Everyone had been wondering where the boy had got to and since nearly every worker in the bath house had seen who his future wife was to be and what honor his great spirit had presented him with they had all desired to speak with him.

"Where is she?" he asked, more urgently than before and growing impatient of the sleepy woman before him.

"Wha..? Oh Chihiro?" she mumbled, suddenly realizing what he was asking, "Yubaba sacked her this morning after she gave her a piece of her mind. It was really funny actually, everyone was dead impressed…"

"And you didn't even go after her? You think she has some other place to go to??" Haku fired back at her cutting her sentence short.

Lin was slightly taken back by this remembering Haku's fiery temper. "I tried to but…" she mumbled.

"But what? She's out there now all alone! I thought you and her were supposed to be friends?" he raged.

"Yubaba said that anyone who went after her could forget ever coming back," she trailed off quietly. The other girls in the room, who had been woken by the shouting, nodded their heads in agreement but looked remorseful. They had all wanted to go after her, all the girls in the room had developed a relationship with the young girl and felt sorry for the position she was in. But the prospects of loosing their job had been too much of a threat.

Haku was furious, not only with the girls in the room or with Yubaba but also with himself. So that was the reason why she had come to the door; because there had been nowhere else for her to go. And he, in his anger, had sent her fleeing away from the last place she had left to turn to. Now she was out wandering the spirit world all because of him.

He slammed the door closed, leaving the girls staring in wonder at where he had been, and turned his back on it. For a moment he did not know what to do, where to go to find her. He gazed out over the balcony and caught a glimpse of the sunrise, it's deep orange and red colours scorched the horizon in a beautiful display of golden spectacular.

"Where are you?" he whispered into the breeze.

"So there you are you unreliable spirit," spat someone from behind him.

Haku turned around to face the voice that he knew too well. The harsh outline of a rather tired looking Yubaba had turned the corner and spotted the boy at long last.

"All night I have been making up stories of where you have been, trying to calm the anger of the Great Water Spirit. You had better have an answer for him. Come!" she ordered, and snapping her fingers she attempted to make him follow using magic. Haku, however, was ready for it and put up an invisible barrier between him and his boss. "Oh don't think you will get away with it that easily!" she shrieked, and stepping forwards she grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him towards her office on the top floor. Haku, weak from having no sleep and exhausted from emotion, had no choice but to follow.

Once they had reached the top floor Yubaba paused for a moment and straightened herself out, smoothing down her ridiculously floral dress and tucking a few stray hairs back into her vulgar bun. She always had to look her best, but even more so for guests as wealthy as this one.

"Doubtless I don't have to tell you how to behave to your master spirit, but if you make this bath house look bad in any way then I will see to it that you and your precious Chihiro never see the light of day again," she snarled, and without another word she threw open the magnificent doors to her office and pushed the boy in.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the spectacular light which filled the room from the gloomy, dully lit hallway outside which had no windows. There were two figures in the room, one of which he had met before. That of his master spirit who now stood with a ferocious look glued upon his face. But in the corner, by the window, stood another. This time a girl, with soft looking shoulders silhouetted by the sun coming through the window.

"A late hour indeed for your return," growled her father, scanning the boy up and down. His hair was a mess, his knees muddy and a rather large grass stained patch upon his white shorts where he had been sitting in the meadow.

At her father's voice the girl by the window moved her head in a way which made her hair flick attractively across her back and turned slowly to meet Haku's gaze.

His eyes drank in the sight of her, from her soft and gentle brown eyes to her perfectly fashioned fingernails. Everything about her was perfect and beautiful which summed up the splendor of the sunrise, the sunset and the glistening night sky. Her smile enhanced her prettiness and put the finishing touches onto her beautiful face.

"Chihiro…" Haku whispered, lost in a dream.

"My daughter, and your future bride, Rin," announced the Great Water Spirit.

Haku's eyes snapped back to reality and the image of Chihiro's face vanished and his eyes settled upon the girl he was supposed to marry. The smile on his face faded as he took in her features. Anyone else would have called her the most beautiful thing upon the earth, but all Haku could think of was how she was not Chihiro.

"You shall marry tomorrow at nightfall," finished his Master.

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A/N: I know it's been a while, well a few years actually since I updated. But I started reading through some of my old stories and realised I really wanted to know what happened in the end of this story, but unfortunatly for me I actually have to write it which is a bit upsetting seeing as I have to come up with an idea on how to finish it. But nether the less here I am trying to finish it. And I hope to keep some reviews happy along the way! So please review and let me know what you think.

Oh and COOKIES FOR ALL!


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